Taken Away
by TheCartoonFanatic01
Summary: Marie Flynn and Thomas Fletcher are kidnapped by two mysterious strangers who challenge Phineas and Ferb to find them. Now, the two fathers must struggle against this elaborate plot of revenge and find few good options. Can they rescue their children before it is too late? I DO NOT OWN MARIE FLYNN OR THOMAS FLETCHER!
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hey, everyone! Yet another P&F fic from me! I thought of this after seeing the many fanarts of Marie Flynn and Thomas Fletcher on DeviantArt. As a result, I have caught a nasty bout of the Marie-and-Thomas-fever myself. I also stumbled across a few Marie-and-Thomas-centric fics on this site, so I decided to pitch in myself. Since most of the aforementioned fics had a lighthearted and P&F-faithful tone, I decided to take this fic into darker territory, being the dark-fic-savvy madman I am. XD

Before I begin this, I have to announce that I had to delete "OWCA Civil War" in order to get this done. I know, I suck so badly that it destroys your computers. But believe me, you would make such a decision, especially with the burden of working on two other popular fics, and also the pressure of scrambling endlessly to find a vacancy in my schedule to update a certain other fic on the endless supply of pleas from rabid fans. Plus, I didn't like how the story went off; it was going a bit too fast than I wanted it. I'll post a rewrite once I finish one of my other fics, I promise.

Also, I would love to thank Animegx43, a fan of Marie and Thomas and the writer of some Marie-and-Thomas-centric fics on this site, for giving me some advice on how to be able to use the OCs, as I was not a member of DeviantArt, where I could find their creators. So, thanks a whole lot! Without you, this wouldn't have been possible.

Enough ranting! ENJOY!

**Disclaimers:**

-"Phineas and Ferb" DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh.  
-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

**P.S.:** If you're not fans of Marie Flynn, Thomas Fletcher, and all the like, then do not flame this fic. You are all free to ignore it.

* * *

_"The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature."  
_-The Abbé Prévost

_"It is a wise father that knows his own child."  
_-William Shakespeare

_"Noble fathers have noble children."  
_-Euripides

* * *

"Rise and shine, little girl."

Nine-year-old Marie Flynn opened her eyes, only to be greeted be a burst of bright, blinding light, which was partially blocked by the locks of her red hair cast over her eyes. Letting out a pained moan, she flicked away the locks and squinted her eyes to the point where they were more like slits, feeling her pupils adjust to the light. She could feel bonds restraining her to a wooden chair; her hands, tied behind the back, were touching the hands of someone else...

Once they were fully adjusted, she found herself staring into the piercing brown eyes of a man wearing a black ski-mask, kneeling before her. Her eyes widened in fear, remembering the gravity of the situation she was currently in. This expression was quickly met with a sadistic smile and a malicious chuckle from the masked man, who then stood up and started walking around her, the sounds of his boots echoing across the room, which Marie quickly identified as a stage theater, which was obviously abandoned due to its outdated and dilapidated nature. The source of light was coming from the sun, which was shining through a large hole present on the ceiling.

"It's quite a pleasure to meet you, Marie Garcia Flynn," the man encircling the nine-year-old said, his voice sounding slightly raspy, as if he had screamed for hours and can barely talk. The menacing raspy voice seemed to stir the innermost cores of Marie's fear. "I have been looking forward to this day. I mean, it is quite an _honor_ to meet the daughter of the famous Phineas Flynn. And it's also a pleasure to meet your step-cousin, dear Thomas Fletcher. Such a pleasure to meet you both."

Marie's eyes widened again, and she instantly identified the owner of the hands touching hers. He appeared to be still unconscious, as she couldn't hear any noises from him aside from his soft breathing.

The man continued, "Now, don't panic, Marie. You'll see your precious daddy again, as long as he pays handsomely for the safe return of you and Thomas."

_"So, that's why we were taken?"_ Marie asked within the corners of her mind. _"For a ransom? Well, Daddy and Uncle Ferb _do_ make a lot of money from his business..."_

Suddenly, the man stood in front of Marie and knelt before her again, looking into her blue eyes with his brown eyes. A frown forming upon his lips, he placed a finger underneath her chin, bringing her face closer to his. She could smell the putrid breath emanating from the man's skin, and she could literally see the pure malice that was alive in his eyes. Remembering what her father said about being brave, Marie successfully composed herself, frowning rebelliously at her captor. This only seemed to turn the man's frown back into a grin.

"A brave one, eh?" he asked. He then chuckled as if someone had told him a joke, and he stood up, taking a few steps away from the nine-year-old, facing away from her and looking up at the hole in the ceiling. "Yep, you're just like your father, that slimy, good-for-nothing, rotten THIEF."

Finally, Marie spoke for the first time since she regained consciousness, giving great emphasis to the note of profound courage that she was utilizing against the man. "My daddy's not a thief! YOU'RE the thief! You don't know who you're messing with, mister! My daddy will find you and beat you! And so will my Uncle Ferb!"

"Oh, is that so?" The man faced her, a look of mock-curiosity plastered on his face. He started walking up to her, resembling a predator ready to capture its prey. "Well, we'll see about that. And I'm pretty sure the odds will change in my favor. After all, I have the leverage."

He suddenly raised his hand and flew it across Marie's cheek, using all of the strength he could muster. Feeling her head snap back uncomfortably from the abrupt blow, followed by the blazing feeling of a billion stings pricking painfully at her cheek, Marie couldn't help but release a soft sob. The man chuckled at her misery and then snapped his fingers. A second man, also wearing a ski-mask, suddenly appeared, which surprised Marie; he had been so quiet that she never noticed him. The second man took out a handheld camera and handed it to the first man. He smiled and aimed it at Marie's face.

"Say cheese!" he said, grinning sadistically.

As the man took one picture after another, bombarding her with split-second-long flashes of white light, Marie began to look back at the events that occurred prior, events that now hit her as catalysts to her unfortunate incident...

* * *

**Six hours earlier...**

Wearing her traditional yellowish-orange dress and bow, Marie traveled down the stairs and entered the kitchen, where she found her parents, Phineas and Isabella Flynn, sitting at the table. The family's elderly pet platypus, Perry, was lying lazily beside one of the table legs, next to a bowl of his food.

"Morning, Mom! Morning, Daddy!" Marie greeted.

"Good morning, sweetie," replied Isabella, standing up and kissing Marie on the forehead.

"Good morning, Marie," Phineas said, looking up from the newspaper he was reading. "How was your sleep?"

"Amazing! I dreamed about building a large robot with Tommy and Jazz! And for once, it didn't explode! I wish I didn't wake up. It was such a good dream!"

"Well, maybe your gonna live out your dream, honey, 'cause I'm gonna be dropping you off at Uncle Ferb's. He and I have to go to a board meeting, and your mom is gonna go shopping with her friends. Baljeet's also dropping off Jazz because he is going to work too."

"YAY!" exclaimed Marie. "I get to build with Tommy and Jazz! This'll be fun!" Just then, she noticed that something was missing. "Hey, where's Perry?"

Phineas and Isabella just looked at each other with understanding.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Thomas screamed. He was standing in the kitchen, where his parents, Ferb and Vanessa Fletcher, were seated at a table.

"Come on, Thomas," replied Ferb, "playing with Marie has gotta be better than going with me to a board meeting."

"Going to a board meeting's _better_ than getting myself exploded, Dad."

"Well, I am sorry, Thomas, but Phineas is already bringing her over. Baljeet's also dropping off Jazz-"

Thomas's eyes widened with shock. "WHAT?!"

"What's wrong with Jazz, son?"

"She keeps bugging me about how I have a crush on Marie and it's annoying!"

Vanessa smiled craftily, and she asked, "Do _you_ have a crush on Marie, Thomas?"

"WHAT?! NO, MOM!"

"Sorry, Thomas," Ferb said, "but I have spoken my word. You're staying here with Marie and Jazz. Don't worry, though; your mom's gonna be watching you guys, so if you need anything from her, just call her over. Alright?"

Thomas just sighed angrily in response and marched over to the family room, where he expected his pet chameleon Steve to be at. That was when he noticed that something was missing.

"Hey, where's Steve?"

Ferb and Vanessa just looked at each other with understanding.

* * *

The Danville Science Fair was once one of the pinnacles of the city's success. However, all of that changed fifteen years ago, when a disastrous fire left it uninhabitable, and now, the fairgrounds have been forgotten, as the science fair was relocated long ago. Tents were torn down, stands were fragile, and the concrete that was the support for the framework of the fair's central theater was cracked and potential to collapse.

Inside the central theater, two men sat silently on wooden chairs on the stage, staring out into the empty audience seats. A ghostly breeze blew about, coming from the gaping hole that was on the ceiling. Their faces were hidden in shadow, only silhouettes. However, it was obvious that they were upset about something. After all, fifteen years ago was when they would've been famous; it would've been their golden moment, the day they reaped the fruits of victory, had it not be for a certain duo of stepbrothers, whose actions ruined their lives forever...

But today was the day the two men would seek retribution. They would still taste victory.

One of the men stood up and faced his companion. "It's time," he said.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what do you think? If any of you are fully aware of Marie and Thomas, keep me informed, 'cause I don't know much about them aside from the basic stuff.

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	2. Just Another Day

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

"Here we are, Marie!" Phineas exclaimed in announcement as he pulled the hovermobile over alongside the sidewalk opposite to the Fletcher house. Marie instantly spotted her Uncle Ferb and her step-cousin Thomas at the driveway, both engaged in conversation; Thomas obviously looked extremely agitated.

"But Dad, please take me with you!" was the first thing Marie heard as she, Phineas, and Isabella stepped out of the family car.

"Sorry, Thomas," replied Ferb modestly, "but a board meeting is a place for adults only. It would, as you say it, bore you to death."

"But to me, it's better than spending the entire day with-"

"Hi, Tommy!" Marie greeted a bit loudly, running up to Thomas and smiling at him.

"MARIE!" Thomas shouted with annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you, don't call me TOMMY!"

"Thomas, don't speak to Marie like that," Phineas said kindly. "She _likes_ calling you Tommy!"

"But _I_ don't like being called Tommy!" protested Thomas. He then looked at Ferb. "Please Dad, don't leave me with Marie!" He flailed his arms wildly in an attempt of emphasis, but this was met with a shaking of Ferb's head. The nine-year-old boy then grunted out angrily and stomped into the open garage, muttering to himself incomprehensible words undoubtedly related to Marie. Marie looked up at Ferb.

"He's really moody today, isn't he?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ferb replied. "I think he's becoming intolerant to all of the explosions your inventions cause."

"Speaking of which," added Phineas, looking at Marie, "be careful this time when you invent something in your Aunt Vanessa's backyard. We can't afford to make any sort of payments in return for the damage your inventions bring. The only reason your mom and I made the decision to let you play with Thomas and Jazz despite all of the stuff that has happened previously is because we trust you to the fullest extent. Do you understand, Marie?"

"Yes, Daddy," Marie replied honestly.

Phineas knelt down before his daughter, his blue eyes staring seriously into her own eyes, which were just as blue as her parents'.

"You promise me there'll be no explosions?"

"I promise, Daddy."

"No shock-waves?"

"Yes Daddy, no shock-waves."

"Not even a fire?"

Marie giggled a bit at that one. "Yes Daddy, not even a fire. I promise!"

Phineas smiled and kissed his only daughter on the forehead. "Good." He then stood up and took Isabella's hand. "Alright, Mrs. Flynn, I'll just drop you off at the New Googolplex Mall?" Isabella giggled at this slight flirtation, to which Phineas then took a quick glance at Ferb. "Then I'll meet up with you at P&F Industries, Ferb?"

Ferb nodded and then looked at Marie. "Jazz will be coming over soon," he said. "Tell Uncle Baljeet that your dad and I say hello."

"Okay, Uncle Ferb!" Marie replied optimistically.

Ferb then nodded approvingly and got into his hovermobile, starting it and flying off into the sky. Marie, Phineas, and Isabella briefly watched the green-haired man make his departure before the latter two made their way towards their own hovermobile. Before they could approach it, Marie called them.

"Mom! Daddy!"

"Yes, Marie sweetie?" Isabella asked.

"I know I told you this before, but you're the best parents ever!" exclaimed Marie. "I love you both very much! Especially you, Daddy! No offense, Mom!"

"Aw, that hurts my feelings," said Isabella sarcastically in response, giggling a bit. "I'll be picking you up at three o'clock sharp."

"Okay! Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, Marie!" Phineas replied. "Have fun!"

Marie nodded and skipped into the garage. Phineas watched his daughter disappear into the house longingly, and then got into the hovermobile, sighing sadly.

"I miss her already," he said.

"Don't worry, Phineas," replied Isabella. "You'll see her again by the end of the day, no doubt about it!"

"I know, Isabella, I know. I just get _so_ worried about her sometimes, with all of her inventions exploding on her and the like. I think I know how Mom felt when she left me and Ferb alone at home all those summers ago... How ironic..."

"Vanessa's watching the kids, Phineas, and besides, Marie cannot be hurt by explosions, thanks to Dr. D's Explosion-Proof-Inator."

Phineas smiled at the thought. "Yep. One of Dr. D's benefits. I'm actually surprised the thing works like a charm."

He then started the hovermobile and flew into the sky.

Little did Phineas or Isabella know that someone was watching them further down the street.

* * *

"So Tommy, what do you wanna invent today?" asked Marie.

"I don't know, Marie," groaned Thomas. His eyes then widened and he shouted, "AND STOP CALLING ME TOMMY!"

"Aw, did Tommy just get upset?"

"Seriously, Marie, stop it!"

"Thomas Fletcher, be nice to Marie!" Vanessa stepped into the living room, wearing her traditional dark-purple clothing. "She's trying to be friendly to you, and all you do in return is reject her attempts of friendship as usual!"

"Yeah Tommy, why do you have to be so mean?" Marie asked.

"Mom, why do you and Dad always take Marie's side?" Thomas demanded angrily. "Every time I get angry at Marie, you two come to her defense!"

"That's because you _do_ get angry at Marie, honey," Vanessa said. "She's your friend, Thomas, and I think her friendliness needs to be repaid with your friendliness."

"I _will_ be friendly if she stops calling me Tommy and her inventions don't explode, Mom." He then turned away from the two and angrily muttered to himself, "You and Dad might as well call Marie your _daughter_."

"_What_ was that, Thomas?" Vanessa asked sternly.

Before the scene could get anymore tense than it already was, the noise of the doorbell suddenly rang around the rooms of the house. Vanessa sighed, approached the front door, and opened it, revealing Baljeet Rai and his daughter Jasmine, or 'Jazz'.

"JAZZ!" Marie called.

"MARIE!" screamed Jazz, and the two girls hugged each other, shrieking and giggling endlessly. Thomas let out a furious, loud groan and covered his ears.

"Hey, Vanessa," Baljeet greeted, a bit loudly over Marie and Jazz's girlish cries and giggles. "Are Phineas and Ferb here?"

"No, they've already gone to P&F Industries," replied Vanessa. "In fact, you just missed 'em."

"Oh. Well, tell 'em Mishti and I give our greetings."

"Uncle Baljeet!" Marie exclaimed. "My dad and Uncle Ferb say hi to you!"

"Thanks for relaying their message, Marie," Baljeet replied, ruffling the girl's red hair. "Jazz, I'll be going now." His face suddenly turned into a serious mask. "Do NOT cause any sort of trouble, alright young miss?"

"Yes, Dad," Jazz said in response.

Baljeet nodded approvingly, kissed Jazz's cheek, briefly waved at Thomas, and left the doorway. Vanessa closed the door, just as Marie and Jazz abruptly and loudly burst into conversation again, like an erupting volcano.

"So Marie," said Jazz, "what do you wanna invent today?"

"I dreamed of building a giant robot last night, and it actually didn't explode!" replied Marie.

"What a surprise," Thomas said sarcastically, but Marie ignored him.

"Let's try it out!"

"Okay! Let's go get our building supplies from the garage!"

Marie and Jazz ran into the garage in search of their building supplies, followed by an unenthusiastic Thomas.

* * *

Inside a van watching the Fletcher house, one of the two mysterious men from the old Danville Science Fair grounds observed Marie, Thomas, and Jazz going into the still-open garage in search of their building supplies.

He then faced his companion and told him with a sinister smile, "Time to initiate the plan."

The companion nodded silently in agreement.

* * *

**A/N:** So, who do you think these two mysterious men are? You'll find out in later chapters.

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**random guy (guest reviewer):** Thanks for the compliment. I hope you enjoy this story despite not being a fan of Marie and Thomas!

**iheartphinabella05:** So, who do YOU think the two kidnappers are? And here's the continuation!

**humanusscriptor:** You never knew that? Huh. Most of the fanart of Marie I've seen also involved Thomas. Hm.

**gamelover41592**

**Proxus:** I will re-post the other story with extensive modifications once I am done with this one and/or other fics. And yes, I like dark fics. They are always the most suspenseful types!

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	3. Grievances

**A/N:** Just a quick little update, mostly nothing fancy. Except at the end... ;) ;) ;) ...

And I'd like to announce that I have FINALLY started production of the newest chapter of my resurrected "Evil Phineas"! That is right, ladies and gentlemen! I have finally gotten to it at effing last! You can all start celebrating now! But posting it still is gonna take some time, so don't expect the chapter to appear once you snap your fingers.

Everyone happy now?

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

After gathering the construction supplies and the materials they needed to construct their giant robot, Marie, Thomas, and Jazz began their work in the Fletcher backyard. Marie supervised the process while Thomas and Jazz gathered the necessary materials. Though Jazz was enjoying the labor as usual, Thomas seemed to be under even more annoyance and frustration at the work than expected.

Finally, after the trio finished building the legs, Thomas whined, "Marie, can we take a break?"

"Tired out already, Tommy?" Marie asked worriedly. "We just got finished with the legs!"

"Yes, yes I am." Thomas's eyes then widened and he stomped his foot defiantly. "AND DON'T CALL ME TOMMY, PLEASE!"

"But I think Tommy works better for you, Tommy. I really think it does."

"No, it DOESN'T!" screamed Thomas.

"THOMAS FLETCHER!" Vanessa's voice roared through an open window of the house. "BE NICE TO MARIE!"

Growling furiously, Thomas kicked a small metal sheet onto one of the finished legs, letting out an angered roar, and stomped away from the scene. Marie and Jazz looked at one another briefly before the former ran up towards Thomas.

"Tom- I mean, _Thomas_, I'm sorry!" she said. "I can call you Thomas if you want!"

"No, call me anything you want, Marie!" snarled Thomas, his eyes wet with tears. "Do whatever you want with me! I've had enough! Just leave me alone!"

He then ran off into the garage door, leaving behind a pitiful Marie in his wake.

* * *

Vanessa overheard Thomas's brief outburst in the backyard and ran into the backyard to scold him, only to find a lone Jazz there.

"Where'd Thomas go?" she asked sternly. Jazz pointed off in the direction Thomas went off to, and Vanessa walked over towards the garage door, only to spot Marie standing there, looking at said door sadly. "Is Thomas in there?"

Marie nodded, and then replied, "I think you should leave To- I mean, Thomas alone, Aunt Vanessa. He's kinda upset right now."

"I'll talk to him," Vanessa said.

Marie stepped aside as the woman walked over towards the garage door. As she neared it, Vanessa could hear her son silently weeping and mumbling words that were incomprehensible, save for a little statement: "Parents like _her_ better..."

"Thomas?"

"Go away, Mom!" Thomas shouted defiantly.

"Can I talk to you, Thomas?"

"No! Please go away!"

Vanessa stepped into the garage, which she noticed was still open. There were no other cars parked in the street, save for the neighbor's orange sedan and a rusty dark-gray van at the opposite side of the street. Making a mental note to herself to close the garage later, for she knew the kids would still be looking for construction supplies, Vanessa just walked further into the garage, where she found Thomas huddled near a set of plastic drawers, crying.

"Thomas?"

"I said go away, Mom!"

Vanessa frowned sadly and knelt down next to Thomas. "Thomas, I'm sorry if I made you mad-"

"It's not that!" Thomas exclaimed. "Every time I get mad at Marie, you and Dad get mad at me! It's not my fault; she keeps calling me names I don't like, I always get hurt by one of her stupid inventions, and it is always up to me to protect her and Jazz from explosions! I have my own feelings about this, you know! But you never seem to understand that, Mom! You and Dad! I feel so misunderstood!"

"Look, we only get mad at you because you get mad at Marie, Thomas," explained Vanessa. "I told you that already today."

"But what happens when Marie's inventions explode? They do more damage than me and yet all she gets is a little 'Don't do that again, Marie'. I don't like it!"

"That's not true, Thomas; your Uncle Phineas grounds her."

"But _he_ doesn't have to get angry about it!" Thomas finally looked up at Vanessa, and his eyes were red and full of anger and hate. Tears were flowing out of them. "Uncle Phineas treats it like it's nothing, like a lot of other things! Same with you, Dad, Aunt Isabella, Aunt Candace, Uncle Jeremy... For once, can't an adult take MY SIDE of the argument! For once, at least? NO!"

"Thomas, I-"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, MOM! GO AWAY!" Thomas screeched.

Vanessa's eyes widened at the high volume of her son's voice, and she could feel her heart being pierced by an unseen blade. She frowned sadly and replied, "Okay, Thomas, I'll leave you alone." She stood up and prepared to leave. "Just know that I l-"

But Thomas seemed to turn away from Vanessa, as if he were rejecting her words like they were poison. So, she just sighed and left the garage.

* * *

P&F Industries was unanimously considered the most successful and profitable company in the Tri-State Area. Therefore, it had to have the tallest skyscraper in the city of Danville as its primary headquarters. Flying their hovermobiles onto a large balcony located on the uppermost floor, the two inventors got out of their vehicles and were instantly greeted by a blond-haired man in a brown suit and carrying a set of papers.

"Hey, Joey!" Phineas called. "We're here!"

"Really?" asked Joey, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you two to be here today."

It was Phineas's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Uh...I believe it was _you_ who called me and Ferb, announcing a board meeting for today."_  
_

"What're you talking about, Phineas? There's no board meeting until next month. Heck, I never even called you in the past week!"

* * *

Isabella searched thoroughly for her Fireside Girl friends through the New Googolplex Mall, which had been established when the old one had been demolished to make way for futuristic technology brought by businesses like her husband's. The shopping center was definitely much more high-tech than its predecessor, displaying interactive maps of the mall's layout, robotic clothing racks, and an assortment of other technological achievements. She felt proud of how much change her Phineas brought to all of the Tri-State Area and the rest of the world.

Just then, after an hour of searching, Isabella spotted her friend Gretchen looking at one of the interactive maps with her two children. She ran up to her friend and tapped her on her shoulder; this proved to be a bad tactic, as the former Fireside Girl yelped and prepared to punch Isabella.

"What the? Oh, hey Isabella!" Gretchen exclaimed. "My God, you scared me!"

"Sorry, Gretchen, sorry," replied Isabella. "Well, I see you brought your children along. Hi, guys!"

"Hi, Aunt Isabella," chirped the two children.

"Yes, I brought my children. My husband's at work and there was no babysitter for today, so I had to take them along." The older child, a boy of twelve, frowned rather disapprovingly at the reference.

"That's good. The more, the better!"

"For what?" asked Gretchen.

"For our shopping spree!"

"What shopping spree?"

Isabella raised an eyebrow. "Hello? You called me, saying that the girls are going on a shopping spree here."

"What're you talking about, Isabella? I never made that call."

* * *

Marie watched Vanessa leave the garage door with a sad look engraved on her face. She knew why, for she had overheard their conversation closely. After hearing Thomas's explanation to Vanessa, she felt pitiful for her step-cousin and became determined to cheer him up. So, she went into the garage and quickly found Thomas now sniffling in the corner of the plastic drawers.

"Thomas?" she asked. "Thomas, can I talk to you?"

"Go away, Marie," Thomas snapped in a low voice.

"Listen Thomas, I am so, _so_, SO-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Interrupting her was the sudden appearance of a dirty, soaked cloth that was thrust up her nose and mouth, filling her nostrils with a putrid scent that attacked the corners of her head's interior all at once. Instantly overwhelmed by the strange smell, Marie felt her world spinning endlessly. Her vision was blurring, and she could catch glimpses of Thomas receiving treatment similar to hers, before he could even scream out.

Her world collapsed and fell into darkness all around her.

* * *

Jazz tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Marie and Thomas to return to the backyard so then they can resume their construction of the giant robot. Several minutes passed and no one had stepped foot into the backyard since Vanessa came back from the garage, tight-lipped as she reentered the house.

Sighing, Jazz entered the Fletcher house and found Vanessa sitting at the kitchen table, her face buried in her palms, an eerie silence filling the room.

"Aunt Vanessa, where's Marie and Thomas?" Jazz asked.

Vanessa looked at Jazz and replied, "I thought they were with you."

"They haven't been with me for the past ten minutes."

"Well, they're probably in the garage, then. You can get 'em." Vanessa then let out a sad sigh.

"Are...you okay, Aunt Vanessa?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just go get Marie and Thomas. Marie definitely wouldn't wanna miss out on inventing that thing you guys are making in the backyard."

Jazz nodded and went out into the backyard. As she neared the garage, she could hear a vehicle speeding away nearby, which she found peculiar as they were in the middle of the suburbs and it was particularly dangerous to drive at dangerously high speeds. However, she dismissed it and entered the garage.

"Marie? Thomas?" she called. "Are you guys here?"

There was no response.

"Marie? Thomas? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Still no response. Jazz then smirked: she assumed the two might be sharing a little romantic moment, as she was constantly believed that Thomas had a crush on Marie and was a supporter of the potential romance.

"Okay, guys, I'll just leave you alone if you-"

Jazz stopped short when she found two rags lying next to a set of plastic drawers, along with a small sheet of paper. Intrigued, she took one of the rags and instantly noticed the smell. Taking a whiff, Jazz flinched instantly, identifying the smell as that of chloroform. Tossing away the rag, she picked up the paper and noticed that there was writing on it. Reading it, Jazz's eyes widened with horror.

Gasping, the girl rushed out of the garage, screaming continuously, "AUNT VANESSA!"

* * *

**A/N:** Ooh, mysterious, eh? What's gonna happen next?

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews now, sorry):

**random guy (guest reviewer)**

**iheartphinabella05**

**Kat (guest reviewer)**

**fan-like-irving**

**damonika2009**

**tigerevans**

**gamelover41592**

**EternalxNightxWalker**

**Proxus**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	4. The News Breaks

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

"What do you mean you didn't call us, Joey?" Phineas asked, crossing his arms and a frown forming upon his mouth. "You definitely called us. I even recognized your voice during that call! You had better not be messing with us, Joey. Ferb and I still remember that stint you pulled off during last year's office party."

"Trust me, Phineas, I _didn't_ call you!" exclaimed Joey. "Check the schedule; the board meeting is gonna be held next month!"

Just then, Ferb's glasses began beeping, and a mechanized female voice announced, _**"Incoming call. Accept connection?"**_

"Access granted," replied Ferb. Soon, his glasses projected an image of Vanessa, who was, to Ferb's surprise, teary-eyed and struggling to hold back sobs. "Vanessa? Vanessa, dear, what's wrong? Did Marie's invention explode and destroy the backyard again?" Phineas frowned disapprovingly at the last sentence, the memory of his daughter's promise casting itself upon the corners of his mind.

"N-_No_, Ferb," Vanessa sobbed, sniffling. "T-The kids, t-they've...they've..." She was close to breaking down in tears. Phineas and Ferb's eyes widened in horror; whatever it was about the kids that troubled Vanessa, it definitely wasn't good.

"What, honey?" Ferb asked hurriedly. "What happened?!"

Suddenly, Jazz's image appeared alongside Vanessa's. "Uncle Ferb, Marie and Thomas have been KIDNAPPED!" she screamed.

"WHAT?!" Phineas and Ferb screeched simultaneously.

* * *

"You're joking, right Gretch?" Isabella asked, putting her arms on her hips. "You clearly made that call. I even recognized your voice!"

"I definitely didn't make that call," replied Gretchen confidently. Her two children, sensing that this would be a private conversation, stepped away and sat down at a nearby bench. "Your hearing must be on the fritz, Izzie. Do you possibly have a hearing disease or something? I heard on the news that that virus the Martians are carrying has started a little epidemic in the neighboring towns. I should call Ginger-"

Isabella frowned angrily. "I definitely don't have a hearing disease. I know what I heard, and what I heard was you saying that the girls were going out on a shopping spree over here and that you were inviting me to tag along. A day with the girls, you specifically called it."

"You do know that's Holly's phrase, right?"

"Whatever. My cell phone EVEN said it was YOUR number calling ME!"

"Look, Izzie, I don't remember calling you about this! I would've loved to do so, but I was busy dropping off my kids at their schools."

Isabella was about to respond, but then, she heard the ringing of her cell phone. She looked at it and identified the number as Phineas's, so she took the call. "Hi, Phineas," she greeted. "Whatcha-"

"Isabella, something terrible's happened!" Phineas interrupted.

Her face went pale, for she knew that tone. "What happened to Marie?" she asked.

"She's been kidnapped, Isabella!"

Isabella's eyes widened with horror, and she replied quickly, "I'll be on my way." She hung up and looked at Gretchen. "Gretch, Marie's been kidnapped."

Gretchen gasped, and her daughter, a friend of Marie's from the Fireside Girls organization, perked her head up like an alert rabbit.

"Oh my God, Isabella!" exclaimed Gretchen. "I'm...I'm...I don't know what to say!"

"I have to get back home!"

"We'll come with you!" Gretchen turned to her kids. "Come on, kids, we have to go with Aunt Isabella."

"YES, NO SHOPPING TRIP!" shouted her son with utmost joy, but he instantly regretted his decision upon being met with a stern glare from his mother.

* * *

Phineas and Ferb landed their hovermobiles in front of the Fletcher residence and saw the sight they wished they would never see in their entire lifetimes: about a dozen police cruisers and news vans surrounding the property, crime-scene tape encompassing the perimeter, and a crowd of frantic reporters and curious neighbors gathered around the garage, which was currently alive with police officers and crime-scene investigators. The two stepbrothers also saw Vanessa, Jazz, Baljeet, and Mishti, all of whom were being shielded by a police detective from the ravenous efforts of a reporter and his crew.

As Phineas got out of his hovermobile, he could hear the reporter ask, "Mrs. Fletcher, how in the world were you able to lose your son and your niece when they were just in the room next to you? Did you even see anything?"

Ferb's lips tightened, his stomach clenching at the seemingly-accusing tone in the reporter's voice, and he marched over towards the reporter, followed by Phineas. The reporter instantly spotted the famous duo, as did the others, and cameras started flashing repeatedly, bombarding the two with bright flashes of white light.

"Mr. Flynn, Mr. Fletcher!" a reporter shouted. "How do you feel about the disappearances of your children?"

"Would you two care to do an exclusive interview with yours truly?" asked another.

"How come you two weren't there for your children when they needed you?" a third questioned. Ferb finally snapped and towered over the reporter, a comically short, stout, balding man whose black-and-white suit seemed to grant him the resemblance of a penguin. But the reporter wasn't daunted by Ferb's height-based advantage and continued to fire away with the questions.

"What is your input on your son's kidnapping, sir?"

"MY input is that you get that camera out of my face!" Ferb shouted.

Still, the reporter wasn't intimidated. "Well, what an interesting answer-"

"Okay, buster, step back!" The very same police detective shielding Vanessa, Jazz, Baljeet, and Mishti came forward and shoved a camera away from Ferb. He was wearing a gray suit with a dark-blue tie, and he had light-gray hair with black hair at the temples.

When the cameras continued to flash their lights at Phineas and Ferb, he quickly pulled out his badge and showed it to them. "Okay, everyone! My name's Lieutenant Donald Kestler, and I will exert my authority to have you all arrested on the spot!"

"That's infringement of the sacred First Amendment, buddy," the penguin-like reporter snapped savagely. "I can sue you to your last dime!" Despite this foolish threat, he and the others took the hint and stepped away cautiously, the cameras still flashing.

Kestler turned to Phineas and Ferb. "Ignore 'em and come inside," he said, escorting the two, along with Vanessa, Jazz, Baljeet, and Mishti into the house, where they found about six or seven other officers standing in the living room.

"Hello, Mr. Flynn, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher," greeted an orange-haired officer, shaking Phineas and Ferb's hands. "The name's Detective Peter Carson, and this here is my partner, Detective Sasha Easton."

A female officer with black hair shook Phineas and Ferb's hands and spoke, in a British accent, "I am very sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," Phineas replied. He turned to Kestler. "Do you have any idea who kidnapped my daughter and my nephew, Lieutenant Kestler?"

"We were hoping you would, Mr. Flynn," the lieutenant replied. "The perpetrators used chloroform-soaked rags to incapacitate your children and then took off with them in a matter of minutes. They were pretty efficient too, for we couldn't recover any fingerprints or other evidence from the scene as of now. Mr. Flynn, Mr. Fletcher, do you two have any enemies?"

Phineas and Ferb looked at each other, then at Kestler.

"Not that we know of, sir," replied Phineas. "Are you _sure_ you didn't find any evidence?"

"Well-" Kestler beckoned Easton to bring something over. "-we _did_ find something. It's obvious the perps left it at the crime scene intentionally."

"Intentionally? What makes you think-" But his question was quickly answered when Easton handed him a piece of paper, which he and Ferb examined closely.

It was a letter, which read:

_Dear Phineas and Ferb,_

_We have your children, Marie Flynn and Thomas Fletcher. No attempts of ours shall be made to inflict bodily harm upon them, should you follow these simple directions:_

_1) Do not call the cops.  
2) Do not make any amateurish attempts to find them on your own.  
3) Wait till 5:00._

_These rules are very simple. Follow them to the fullest extent, and MAYBE you will see your children again._

_You will hear from us soon._

_Sincerely, your greatest enemy_

Phineas's eyes widened with horror, and he turned to Kestler. "We broke the first rule!" he shouted. "I can't believe it! They SPECIFICALLY told us to NOT call the cops! Who the hell's the one who called the cops?!"

"Me." Phineas twirled his head around to furiously glare at Vanessa. "I didn't know. I didn't read the letter-"

"**YOU** CALLED THE COPS?" shrieked Phineas. "YOU GOT YOUR SON **AND** MY LITTLE GIRL **KILLED**!"

"Phineas, settle down!" Ferb said sternly. "Vanessa didn't mean it, she said so herself!"

"But she-" Phineas began.

"Mr. Flynn, calm down!" interrupted Carson. "We can only find out about your daughter's fate, as well as that of your son's, Mr. Fletcher, at 5:00."

"When is that?" asked Ferb.

"In half an hour."

Just then, the group heard an outburst of voices erupting outside, and Kestler sighed, knowing that the reporters were at full work again. He marched outside, and a few minutes later, he reentered the house, followed by Isabella, Gretchen, and her two children. Isabella instantly noticed Phineas and ran over to him, holding him in a tight embrace as she sobbed into his shoulder. Phineas couldn't help but let a few tears flow loose from his own eyes.

"Phineas, our _baby_..." moaned Isabella.

"It's okay, Isabella, we'll get her back soon..." Phineas replied.

* * *

**A/N:** Here we are, another update from me. Hopefully it was satisfactory enough. To me, it was just "Meh". But that's just me.

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**DizzyPirate:** Well, you'll see if it's Thaddeus and Thor or not.

**agent josie: **Thanks for reviewing twice!

**iheartphinabella05:** Yes, yes you will have to. XD

**Sabrina06**

**Deborahpflover:** I'm glad you are anticipating the arrival of the next chapter!

**EternalxNightxWalker**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	5. Trapped

**A/N:** Well, it looks like I trashed my make-one-update-for-this-story-per-day streak! YAY!

On the bright side, this chapter should help to whet your curiosity about Marie and Thomas.

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

Marie fell hard to the ground, having been roughly shoved just split-seconds into a small room with concrete walls. The only source of light was coming through a small, cube-shaped cavity that was located high up in the wall opposite to her, but all hopes of using it to escape would be extinguished, as it was barred off by rusty iron bars, one of which was bent slightly to the side. There were no other objects occupying the room, save for her and Thomas. The nine-year-old girl looked up at her two captors, her face covered with a mask of pure, absolute terror. Both of them had unmasked and introduced themselves minutes earlier, just after taking photos of her and Thomas suffering in their captivity.

She remembered her father recalling to her in a bedtime story his and Ferb's counterparts, Thaddeus Fort and Thor Flagstad, who were their rivals in inventing from their childhood to high school, but judging by what he had told her, it would be unlikely to ever see them in her lifetime. Marie never imagined that she would be wrong in this assumption. Thaddeus was tall, slim, and twitchy; had long dark-orange hair that trailed off into wild, unkempt, curly locks, and a pointed nose; and wore a green shirt, blue jeans, and half-moon-shaped glasses. Thor was more bulkier than his stepbrother, but gave the impression of a horrendously below-average intellect; sported long blond hair that was cast over his eyes; and wore a light-blue shirt, a green light vest, and gray jeans. And both were obviously extremely vengeful of her father and her Uncle Ferb.

Marie watched as Thor, who had a still-unconscious Thomas hoisted over his shoulder, carelessly threw his limp form into the room as if it were a bag of garbage.

"Hey, don't do that to my friend!" Marie shouted in protest.

"Yeah? Who are _you_ to stop us?" asked Thaddeus, bending down to put his face close to Marie's, so close that their noses were touching. Marie was reminded of the times her face was that close to her father's, and it was definitely an experience she preferred over the present one.

"My daddy will find you and stop you," Marie continued, the confidence coming back to her. "He's always beaten you at everything. He'll beat you again."

"He's beaten us at _everything_?" Thaddeus repeated. He smiled a rather pompous smile and burst out laughing, his cackles filling the room. Thor merely stood there and watched the unfolding scene with an eerie silence. "I'll admit, little girl, that we have suffered defeats at the hands of your precious daddy and uncle. My bro Thor and I would've easily gotten over those countless defeats, but alas, it had to be fate that catalyzed the fire that brought down the very location you are presently at!"

"What're you talking about?" demanded Marie.

"If your father and his pals hadn't tinkered with an invention that the two of us were showing here, an invention that would've revolutionized the world, then this f- I mean, _location_, would still be standing! It is your precious little father's fault that you and your friend are here right now, in the midst of shambles! Your father and your uncle are cheats and frauds, that is what I am telling you."

"NO!" Marie stood up and firmly maintained her ground as she faced her captors in the eye. "My daddy and Uncle Ferb aren't cheats and frauds! _You_ two are cowards and bugs for trying to get back at them by taking me and Thomas, because you are afraid that they'll beat you like they have always done in the past!"

Thaddeus laughed again. "Say all you want, little girl. You may view your misfortune as a cowardly act on our part, but in fact, this is our newest tactic against the world-famous Phineas and Ferb! I wish I can tell you more information, but I do not wanna ruin the show for you! After all, it hasn't even started." He and Thor stepped back, and Thaddeus grabbed the door. "Enjoy captivity, Marie Flynn."

With a last cackle, he shut the door on Marie before she could reach it and locked it. The loud noise abruptly pulled Thomas from oblivion, and he looked around quickly.

"What? What?" he stuttered. "W-What is this? Where am I?" He turned around and saw Marie. "Marie? What's this? Where are we?"

"We've been kidnapped, Tommy- I mean, Thomas," replied Marie.

"Kidnapped?" Thomas's eyes widened and he looked around, examining his surroundings. His eyes cast upon the cavity in the wall that was letting the sunlight into the room that was their prison. He then stared at Marie again. "Are you sure this isn't another one of your inventions?"

_**"Oh, believe me, Thomas Fletcher, this **_**isn't_ her doing,"_** a voice suddenly said. Marie instantly identified the voice as that of Thaddeus's; looking around, she saw a previously-unnoticeable security camera with a miniature speaker attached to it.

"HEY!" Marie shouted at the camera. "YOU LET US GO, RIGHT NOW!"

A short but sinister cackle emanated from the speaker. _**"Yes Marie, you definitely are your father's daughter. Determined and high-spirited. So, do you like our little trick, cramming you and Thomas in a small room together with a single camera watching you and no possible way to escape? Classic action movie, isn't it? Heh heh, maybe even a little incorporation of **_**romance**_**, if you think about it..."**_

Thomas blushed a furious crimson, but Marie, oblivious to the concept of romance, maintained her spirit of rebellion against her two captors.

"No, I DON'T like your little trick. I suggest letting us go already, otherwise you'll be-"

_**"Beaten by your daddy and his daddy, blah blah**** blah,"**_ interrupted Thaddeus. _**"Your protests are already getting cliched, little Marie, and just six-and-a-half hours into your capture. You quit boring me to death, alright? It's not all that good for my health. Now, if you'll excuse me, my bro and I have some little **_**business_ to attend to. You two have fun together."_**

The pair heard a small beep, ending Thaddeus's conversation. Marie and Thomas looked at one another fearfully.

They were trapped.

* * *

"So, Mr. Flynn, you say you and Mr. Fletcher both received a call from your assistant Joey, informing you of a board meeting earlier today?" asked Detective Carson, who was seated on a chair in the living room, interrogating Phineas, who was seated in an opposite sofa across from a table. Seated beside him were Isabella, Ferb, and Vanessa. It was still a lively scene in the Fletcher house, with police continuing to investigate the garage. Jazz had concluded interrogation with police and was now taken home by Baljeet and Mishti, while Gretchen wished Isabella the best of luck and took her two kids home.

"Yes, but according to him, that meeting doesn't happen till next month, and he didn't make the call," Phineas replied.

"And the same happened with me," added Isabella. "My friend Gretchen called me, inviting me to a shopping trip at the New Googolplex Mall with our other friends. But the minute I find her, she says she's only shopping with her kids and didn't call me."

Carson nodded and wrote the information on his tablet computer, while Detective Easton stretched out her hand.

"Can we see your cell phones?" she asked.

Phineas nodded and handed her his phone; Isabella and Ferb followed suit. The detective then handed the phones to a CSI agent, who placed them in a plastic bag and walked away. Vanessa, in the meantime, addressed Carson.

"Detective, when are you gonna get our children back?" she asked, a bit forcefully.

"Mrs. Fletcher, we are doing everything we can," replied Carson reassuringly. "All police units have made finding and recovering Marie and Thomas safely the number-one priority, and the public has been instructed to be on the lookout for anyone or anything suspicious. If someone sees even a peek of Marie and/or Thomas, they'll call 911 immediately, and the police will respond quickly. Trust me, everyone's on the clock to return your children safely-"

"No, that's NOT good enough!" Vanessa suddenly shouted as she stood up from the sofa, attracting the attentions of the other officers. Realizing the outburst she had done, the woman collapsed back onto the sofa and started to cry. "Oh, I am so sorry... I-It's just...just..."

"What is it, darling?" Ferb asked.

"T-The last t-time I saw T-Thomas, h-he was ac-accusing y-you and I o-of taking M-Marie's side...a-all the ti-time..." Vanessa then broke down and hugged Ferb, crying into his shoulder, sobbing, "H-He ha-hated u-us!"

"It's okay, Vanessa," replied Ferb. "Thomas never hated us, and he never will. He loved us, and he still does. There's no doubt he's thinking of us right now, and how he can't wait to get back home."

"But what if he's unable to think of us, 'cause he's DEAD?!" Vanessa cried.

Ferb didn't answer, but he patted his wife's back comfortingly. Isabella also hugged Phineas, struggling to hold back tears of her own. The two couples sat on the sofa, dealing with the kidnappings of their only children...

They felt trapped.

* * *

**A/N:** It looks like everyone was right; the kidnappers are indeed Thaddeus and Thor. Cyber cookies for you all! *starts throwing them out*

I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:

**iheartphinabella05:** Well, you're right! Congratulations to you! Have a cyber cookie.

**gamelover41592:** Sorry. I am a fan of angst.

**random guy (guest reviewer):** It's okay if you temporarily missed out. You probably had a life to attend to.

**agent josie**

**14AmyChan:** Hey, thanks for reviewing every chapter! It really helps a lot! Thank you very much.

**Deborahpflover:** Yes, yes they are. Have a cyber cookie and a pat to the back!

**Proxus**

**ultimix**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	6. Consequences Unfold

**A/N:** Wow. I REALLY should be working on my "Evil Phineas" chapter. I really should. Wow. Instead, I'm doing my first double-update in some time. Why can't I stop?

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

"Say that again, Lieutenant?" Phineas asked, his mind unable to absorb the words spoken by Lieutenant Kestler.

"The calls you and your brother received were indeed from Joey Sanders's cell phone, and it indeed originated from the P&F Industries headquarters. No hacks of any sort were detected, and how the caller managed to pull off Joey's voice with great accuracy is still unknown to the CSI team. The same applies to the call your wife received; the call came from Gretchen Davison's cell phone, and the call came from her own house."

"Those creeps used my friend's cell phone?!" exclaimed Isabella, her face turning red with fury. "And in her own HOME?!"

"Yes, Mrs. Flynn. And we don't have any idea as to how the perps gained entry into P&F Industries, or the Davison home. Don't worry, we have sent police units to guard your friend and her family in addition to search her house for signs of a recent break-in. We've also sent units over to P&F Industries to sweep any evidence that can be found, and to interrogate any employees if they've seen any suspicious activity."

Phineas collapsed on the sofa in shock. "I can't believe this is happening," he moaned as he rubbed his head. "It's like these guys have planned this for years! I mean, something suspicious was going on, and it happened under our noses!"

"Which comes back to our original question, Mr. Flynn," Kestler said. "Are you _sure_ there is no one who'd wanna attack you, or at least kidnap your daughter?"

"No."

"And you, Mr. Fletcher?"

Ferb sighed and shrugged in defeat. "I've given up on answering that a _long_ time ago. We've benefited practically an entire world with our inventions. I can't possibly think of anyone who'd wanna attack us, get us out of the way."

"Well..." Kestler glanced at the digital clock hanging on a nearby wall. "It's almost two hours till five o'clock. That's when the perps said something will happen. We don't know what's gonna happen, Mr. Flynn and Mr. Fletcher. You two HAVE to think. And that means you too, Mrs. Flynn and Mrs. Fletcher. If the perps might not be connected to your husbands, then they could be connected to you in some way. Time is ticking, and we as a police can only act if you can help us."

"I don't know any enemies of mine," replied Isabella.

"Me neither," Vanessa added.

Kestler sighed grimly. He then looked at the clock again and then continued encouragingly, "We still have two hours. Just think."

Several minutes passed, and no real leads have been made on Marie and Thomas's abductors. Eventually, the door suddenly opened, and in came Candace Flynn, Linda and Lawrence Flynn-Fletcher, Vivian Garcia-Shapiro, and Charlene Doofenshmirtz.

"Phineas!" Linda exclaimed. "Ferb!" She ran forward and tightly hugged her sons, as did Lawrence. "Oh my God, your dad and I were at an antiques convention when we saw the news. We came here straight away. Is everything alright, honey?"

"Yes, everything's alright," Phineas replied calmly, but it was obvious he was struggling hard to keep himself composed.

He then broke the hug and accepted another one from Candace. Meanwhile, Vivian had set down an elderly Pinky that she was carrying with her and hugged Isabella, while Charlene firmly embraced a sobbing Vanessa. Kestler, sensing the tense reunions that have taken place, took the liberty to step back and give the families space to toil in the atmosphere of the current situation.

* * *

After being set down by Vivian, Pinky trotted his way towards the empty staircase, where he found his old friend and colleague Perry standing on his hind legs while observing the tragic scene, a sad expression masking his face. By his side was Perry's student Steve the Chameleon, who was also in agent mode and wearing a similar grief-stricken look. Looking around to see if there were any witnesses, Pinky then took the cue to stand on his own hind legs and traveled up the staircase.

"Hey, Perry, Steve," the trembling Chihuahua greeted.

"Hey, Pink," Perry replied, but Steve didn't respond.

"Can you believe what's happening?" asked Pinky.

Again, Perry was the only one to respond. "I still cannot. I mean, Steve and I were battling with Doofenshmirtz again at the time, and by battling, I mean play checkers with him." Pinky giggled at that remark. "And while we're engaging with him, my owner's daughter gets kidnapped. I should've just stayed at home. Phineas would've told me to closely watch Marie and Thomas. Alas, I had to supervise Steve again."

Steve suddenly turned away and traveled further up the staircase.

"Steve? You okay?" Perry asked. "Look, when I said that last sentence, I never meant it with all the bitterness in the world. Your my best student-"

"I know you didn't mean it that way, Perry," replied Steve. "It's just that...I should've been there more for Thomas. He needed his pet chameleon, and I ditched him, just hours before he gets taken away. What a great pet I've been-"

"No, Steve!" interrupted Perry sternly. "You had a duty to attend to!"

"Yeah, which is fighting your old arch-nemesis by playing checkers." Steve sighed angrily. "Why'd I have to keep disappearing on Thomas, whenever he needed me?"

"Look, I know you feel bad. Trust me, I know." Perry placed a comforting hand on his student's shoulder. "Being an agent for the OWCA doesn't mean you'll never do things you will regret in the future. There's a consequence in every job. When I was your age, I felt bad for always leaving on Phineas and Ferb whenever they made an invention. I just _know_ that they wanted me to see them. I actually did see them, but they never knew it until a decade later. And I felt bad. I was their pet, their best friend, and I repaid their kindness by disappearing each and every day.

"You know, the moment I was allowed to show my secret identity to Phineas and Ferb without needing Doofenshmirtz's Amnesia-Inator, I felt like I had been blessed. It was a moment that redefined my life. But like everything, there was a consequence to that golden day. By allowing my owners to know of my secret double-life left them more vulnerable to my enemies. Every time my two lives intersected, and in disastrous ways, something bad would always happen before I manage to fix things. And though things have become easier ever since I semiretired from the OWCA, I am still on high alert for the sake of my owners.

"Look, what I'm trying to say, Steve, is that it's always hard to leave your owners so you can get to your job as an agent, but by making things easier, such as showing your true identity to Thomas, it will just make things harder for yourself. It is always for the best when Thomas doesn't know of your secret identity."

Steve scoffed. "Yeah, Perry. Keep on saying that, while Thomas suffers gravely in some dark room in a lonely location!"

The chameleon walked off, muttering to himself, and Perry looked at Pinky.

"You tried," Pinky said reassuringly.

The senior agent platypus just sighed and looked after his protege.

* * *

"Yeah, thanks," Kestler replied. He then closed his cell phone and faced Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, Vanessa, and the others. "Well, that was Detective Easton. They have just taken Gretchen and her family into protective custody, and they've now started searching her house."

"Thank goodness," Isabella exhaled, relieved of the safety of her friend.

"What have they found at the house?" asked Vanessa hopefully.

"Uh...they just started searching the house, Mrs. Fletcher," Kestler said. "They're not gonna find anything right now, and if the person who took your son is indeed extensively efficient, then I doubt we'll be finding any evidence within the next hour."

"THEN DOUBLE YOUR EFFORTS!" Vanessa shrieked.

"Mrs. Fletcher, calm yourself!"

"NO, **YOU** CALM YOURSELF! MY LITTLE BOY'S OUT THERE, BEING HELD CAPTIVE BY A STRANGER, AND YOU'RE EXPECTING **ME** TO CALM DOWN?!"

"Vanessa, please calm down..." Ferb pleaded.

"NO!" Vanessa pushed her husband away furiously. "I CAN'T CALM DOWN! I NEED THOMAS TO BE BROUGHT BACK HERE NOW! I NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO HIM! I NEED TO... I NEED TO..." She suddenly broke down in tears and marched out of the room.

"Vanessa!" Charlene cried, but Vanessa didn't listen.

* * *

_"Parents like _her_ better..."_

_"Go away, Mom!"_

_"Every time I get mad at Marie, you and Dad get mad at me! It's not my fault; she keeps calling me names I don't like, I always get hurt by one of her stupid inventions, and it is always up to me to protect her and Jazz from explosions! I have my own feelings about this, you know! But you never seem to understand that, Mom! You and Dad! I feel so misunderstood!"_

_"But what happens when Marie's inventions explode? They do more damage than me and yet all she gets is a little 'Don't do that again, Marie'. I don't like it!"_

_"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, MOM! GO AWAY!"_

Those were the sentences that had been plaguing Vanessa's mind like a ravenous disease ever since Jazz came running to her with the note. As she stepped into the kitchen, she collapsed onto a chair and started weeping silently, Thomas's words replaying on her mind continuously like a broken record player.

Vanessa's mind was then filled with memories of how she was brought up by her father, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, who gave her birthday parties that she despised due to their girly nature, even when she was a teenager. As a result of this irresponsible upbringing, she had promised herself that she would raise her kid like any other average parent would. Is _this_ how a parent raises their kid every day?

A few minutes of this musing and sobbing passed, and Vanessa suddenly felt a hand set itself on her shoulder.

"Oh, I am _so_ sorry about what happened back there, Ferb..." Vanessa began, but when she looked up at the person touching her shoulder, she held back tears and hugged him as tightly as she could.

"I'm so sorry too, Vanessa," replied Doofenshmirtz.

* * *

**A/N:** For some reason, I feel that this chapter is just filler-ish. I apologize if you agree, but I promise you, the next chapter will take us somewhere.

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**iheartphinabella05:** Hope you enjoyed my cyber cookie! It's my own recipe. :)

**gamelover45192**

**DizzyPirate:** I'm glad you loved that chapter!

**Sabrine06:** Uh...I'm sorry, what does that mean?

**Deborahpflover:** You'll see on Thaddeus and Thor's reaction, and it does look like Perry will have some role in the story, as you've just read.

**agent josie:** You'll see if Marie likes Thomas or not.

**random guy (guest reviewer)**

**fan-like-irving**

**Ddroczz**

**14AmyChan:** Whoa, I'm glad I made you cry! And I do NOT say this in a sadistic way. It just tells me that I am doing a good job in keeping my readers' attentions.

**woodland5 (guest reviewer):** It's okay if you didn't review any sooner. And...how old are you?

**Kat (guest reviewer):** Yes, yes you still get a cyber cookie. ENJOY!

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	7. First Suspicions

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Antonio de la Torre Saavedra DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.

* * *

It was now just a half-hour until five o'clock, and Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Vanessa were nowhere near deducing an enemy of theirs who would be daring enough to abduct Marie and Thomas. The group had now taken shelter in the Fletcher kitchen, as the crowd of reporters outside had started getting rowdy and were now snapping pictures from through the front window despite resistance from the police officers trying to restrain them.

"Are you sure you don't have any enemies?" asked Lieutenant Kestler.

"We're confident on that," Phineas replied.

Kestler glanced at the clock and sighed grimly. "Well, I guess it looks like we're gonna have to wait till five o'clock and see what happens. It's either that, or luck can come across us and offer us some helpful clue on who the perp could be-" He was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone, which he answered. "Kestler." He was silent for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly widened with surprise. "What?"

"What?" Vanessa asked. "What's happened? Did they find Thomas and Marie?"

Kestler held up a finger to silence her, and then replied into the cell phone, "Scan it. I'd better have a name." He then lowered the cell phone and addressed the group. "Detective Easton found a full fingerprint at the Davison home. Looks like the guy isn't as efficient as we thought."

There were some collective gasps, and Isabella and Vanessa grabbed their husband's hands and held on tight with hope.

Kestler then put the phone onto his ear and waited for a response. It didn't take long till he replied, "Okay, thanks Easton." He then hung up and said, "Okay, there was a positive match on the fingerprint. Does the name Antonio de la Torre Saavedra ring a bell, guys?"

Phineas and Isabella's eyes widened.

"Oh, no," moaned Isabella.

"You know him?"

"He was my rival for Isabella's attention in high school," Phineas said quickly and sternly, his face becoming increasingly red. "_He_ kidnapped Marie?"

"Apparently so," Kestler replied. "The fingerprint was found _inside_ the house. Mrs. Flynn, is your friend Gretchen familiar with Antonio?"

"Yes, but she would never let him in the house," said Isabella. "Especially since-" She suddenly stopped short, her lips pursed.

"Since what?"

Isabella continued to be silent, and she looked away, her eyes glittering with forming tears. Phineas immediately sensed that something was wrong, and he placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Isabella, is there something you're not telling me?" he asked. "Isabella?"

The raven-haired woman looked up at him, a single tear sliding from her eye, and she replied, "Phineas, I have to tell you something."

Phineas became pale. "What is it, honey?"

"Ever since we got married, Antonio's been...visiting me, calling me, and sending me letters frequently."

"WHAT?!" screamed Phineas, outraged at the revelation. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"It wasn't really that bad. He acted nice to me, he seemed to respect the fact that you were my husband and that I can never be his...and I really didn't want you to be angry over this if you found out about it. You two weren't really at close terms with one another at high school-"

"Well, I **AM** angry about this! You should've TOLD me!"

"I'm sorry, Phineas-"

"Yeah, you're sorry! Maybe if you _told_ me, it might've made a difference in preventing Marie and Thomas's abductions!"

"Don't put the blame on me, Phineas Flynn!" Isabella shrieked.

"Settle down, guys!" barked Kestler. "Bickering won't save your daughter and your nephew! You've gotta stay composed!"

"Composed, my ass!" snapped Phineas bitterly. "As the minutes go by, my daughter suffers even more! I'm outta here!"

Muttering to himself, he stomped out of the kitchen. Candace tried to stop him, but Ferb beckoned his stepsister to let Phineas be.\

In the meantime, Kestler looked at Isabella. "Mrs. Flynn," he said, "by any chance, did something happen between you and Antonio recently, an occurrence that would motivate him to kidnap your daughter?"

"Last month, he tried to seduce me, and it didn't go well afterwards," Isabella replied. She then sighed. "And, as a result, I filed a restraining order against him."

* * *

Detective Carson parked his police cruiser alongside the electronics store that was Antonio's workplace. He and Easton got out of the car and were quickly followed by two other police officers as they entered the store. They instantly found an employee, a stout, beer-bellied man with a balding head, presumably the head employee. The man quickly noticed the store's newest visitors.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"DPD. We're looking for Antonio de la Torre Saavedra," replied Carson.

"Tony?" The employer shook his head disapprovingly. "Aw, crap. What'd the guy do now?"

"He is a suspect in an abduction case," Easton said.

The man's eyes widened with surprise. "You don't mean those two kids on the news, do you?"

"We _do_ mean those two kids, and their lives are at stake unless we do something about it. Where is Antonio?"

"Over by those shelves." The man pointed them out with a stubby finger. "Uh, he was late for work today. Like, _really_ late. Does that help?"

"Yes, yes it does..." Carson replied as he, Easton, and the officers strode over to the shelves, where they found Antonio categorizing some items. His black hair had become shaggier, and he had grown a goatee and the beginnings of a mustache. His light-hazel eyes looked sunken, as if he didn't have any sleep the previous night.

"Antonio de la Torre Saavedra?" Easton called, catching Antonio's attention.

"Uh...yeah?" he replied.

She flashed him her police badge. "DPD. We need you to come with us."

The moment she said that statement, Antonio instantly burst into a full run, making through to the next shelf. A police officer tried to intercept him there, but when he attempted to tackle him down, the former basketball player managed to jump out of the way. Grabbing an employee and pushing her roughly towards the other officer, he then sprinted as fast as he could towards the only entrance and exit, with Carson and Easton in pursuit.

Antonio would've made it out of the store, had the employer not decided to grab a folding chair and strike him in the head with its legs.

As Carson and Easton caught up to him and made the arrest, the employer spat at Antonio, "You're fired."

"Crap," was all Antonio could say as he was hauled away into a police cruiser.

* * *

**A/N:** This would all be fine and dandy...if it weren't for the fact that Antonio IS NOT THE GUY! However, just because he's not the guy doesn't mean I can come up with something clever for him. So stay tuned for his involvement in the story!

If you aren't familiar with Antonio de la Torre Saavedra, read Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember's in-progress comic "Chaos Through Time". It's currently not much, but it'll give you some basics on the OC.

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews right now, sorry):

**iheartphinabella05**

**Ddroczz**

**agent josie**

**14AmyChan**

**DizzyPirate**

**Proxus**

**Deborahpflover**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	8. Hurt and Comfort

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

"What...do you see...M-Marie?" Thomas asked in a strained voice. With much difficulty, he was carrying Marie on his shoulders in order for her to be at the same height as the makeshift window on the wall. The red-haired nine-year-old was looking through the iron bars and surveying the outside environment being displayed.

"I don't know, Thomas," replied Marie. "I'm seeing burned fabric, that's all."

"That's not...g-gonna...h-help. ...Can you...bend...t-the bars?"

"Hello? They're made of _iron_."

Thomas grunted, the pressure in his legs increasing at an alarming rate. He didn't know if he could take it anymore...

"M-Marie..." he groaned, "I-I n-need...y-you...to g-get off...n-no-now..."

"Just a sec, Thomas," replied Marie as she continued to look out of the window.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, MA- YAAAGGGHHH!" Unable to handle the pressure anymore, Thomas's legs collapsed under Marie's weight, and the two nine-year-olds fell to the ground. While Thomas was able to kneel down and clutch his throbbing knees, Marie fell off of his shoulders before she could prepare herself. Marie landed hard on her shoulder, and all of a sudden, Thomas heard her scream like she never screamed before. It was a scream of pain and agony.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH! MY ARM, MY ARM!" Marie was screeching. She then burst into tears, and her pained wails filled the room.

"OH MY GOODNESS, MARIE!" Thomas shouted, running up to Marie's side. "MARIE, WHAT HAPPENED?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"MY ARM! MY ARM!"

"Okay, okay..." Thomas hurriedly looked at both of Marie's arms. "Both of your arms look okay, Marie!"

"I think it's my shoulder!" exclaimed Marie between sobs.

Thomas lifted Marie's sleeves away to take a look at her shoulders, but found no signs of injury. "Nothing's wrong with them either, Marie! Please stop joking around!"

"I'M NOT JOKING AROUND, THOMAS! PLEASE HELP ME! I'M GONNA DIE! IT HURTS **SO MUCH**!"

Thomas's eyes began to water with tears. He hated to see the optimistic Marie look so broken, so defeated. He couldn't bear with that kind of image, no matter how annoying it always has been to him. He helped Marie up to her feet, to which the girl's crying became even worse, so they both limped over to a corner, where Marie collapsed against it and rested her right arm onto her lap, clutching the shoulder as her weeping became softer by the minute. Thomas sat down close next to her, and watched her with empathy as she continued to cry. Occasionally, he would say statements of encouragement and support to her, but other than that and the crying, the room was deadly silent. The sunlight outside began to disappear, being overshadowed by a bank of clouds.

Several minutes passed, and finally, Marie stopped crying, but she continued to cradle her injured right arm, sniffling as she did so.

"Thomas?"

"Yeah, Marie?" Thomas replied.

"Do you think our parents will find us? We don't even know where we are."

"Knowing my dad and Uncle Phineas, they will find us soon."

Marie sniffled, then asked, "Do you think we're gonna die?"

Thomas's eyes widened and he said, "Marie, don't _ever_ say that! We are NOT gonna die! Our dads will find us, I promise you that!"

Marie's eyes widened, and she replied, "Okay, okay, Thomas. ...Wow, you sounded like my dad right there."

"Well, there's no adult around. Someone's gotta be the adult here now."

The redheaded girl smirked. "Okay, Mr. Adult, what do you suggest we do?" she asked.

Thomas pondered over that question for a few minutes, and then, he snapped his fingers as he came to a satisfying conclusion.

"Music."

"There's no headphones and iPods around, Thomas."

"And then there is making up a song to sing." Thomas cleared his throat and, for a few minutes, let the creative gears of his brain spin to formulate lyrics for a decent song. Upon creating a song, he cleared his throat again and burst into song.

_We are in some major trouble  
And we don't know where to turn.  
Four walls and a door make up our prison  
And our minds are close to a churn._

_But we can defy the odds against us  
'Cause we both have something  
That's as treasured as a platypus.  
And that's our friendship!_

Thomas looked at Marie for her response. After a minute, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "That's all?"

"Well, I'd do better if I wasn't locked up like a bad guy in jail and all," Thomas replied, frowning.

"Here, let me pitch in."

_Friendship, oh yeah, friendship!  
It's better than acquaintances,  
More preferable than frenemies,  
And just as good as families!_

_Friendship, oh yeah, friendship!  
We can hold onto each other  
And together, we can confront what's ahead  
'Cause we rely on one another.  
And that's what friendship's all about!_

Thomas smiled and joined in with Marie.

_**Both: **Yes, it's friendship, oh friendship!_  
_**Marie:** Whether or not it's about telling a secret-  
**Thomas: **Or sharing each other's lunch-  
**Both: **Or just inventing outside in the backyard-  
That's what friendship's all about!_

___Friendship, oh yeah, friendship!  
**Marie: **It's better than acquaintances-  
**Thomas: **More preferable than frenemies-  
**Both: **And just as good as families!_

_____Friendship, oh yeah, friendship!  
We can hold onto each other  
And together, we can confront what's ahead  
'Cause we rely on one another.  
And that's what friendship's all about!_

___________Friendship, oh yeah, friendship!  
We can hold onto each other  
And together, we can confront what's ahead  
'Cause we rely on one another.  
And that's what friendship's all about!_

_____Friendship, oh yeah, friendship!  
We can hold onto each other  
And together, we can confront what's ahead  
'Cause we rely on one another.  
And that's what friendship's all about!_

_Friendship, oh yeah, friendship._

The two were silent a moment, and then, Marie smiled. "Thanks, Tom- I mean, _Thomas_," she said. "That really helped a lot to lighten my spirits."

"You're welcome, Marie," replied Thomas. Then, he suddenly frowned disapprovingly. "Marie?"

"Yeah?"

...

"...Just call me 'Tommy'. I'm sorry about what I kept saying to you about what you should call me. You are what you are. You are free to call me whatever you wish. Besides...I think like- I mean, I've gotten used to you calling me 'Tommy'."

Marie smiled. "Okay..._Tommy_."

Just then, there was a small beep, and Thaddeus's voice filled the room.

_**"Enjoying yourselves, kiddos?"**_

Thomas stood up and furiously walked up towards the security camera. "LET US GO!" he screamed. "Marie needs to see a doctor! I think she broke her arm!"

_**"Aw, a broken arm? Why, that sounds **_**terrible_. Well, sorry. No can do. It's too risky. After all, your worthless parents have called in the cops. And just when our plan has yet to be finished. Poor little Marie's gonna have to deal with that arm injury for a while longer..."_**

Thomas growled angrily and started jumping for the security, but he couldn't reach it due to his short height. A cackle emanated from the miniature speaker.

_**"Aw, poor little Thomas is so**** mad!"**_ Thaddeus said in a mock-baby voice. _**"Does he need his little plush toy to calm him down? Does he need his milk?"**_

"YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!" shouted Thomas.

_**"Three words: We. Just. Did."**_

"ONCE OUR DADS FIND YOU-"

_**"They'll beat us like they did before, blah blah blah. My God, you kids have seen too many action movies. This is real life, children! We cannot be beaten so easily! Not especially when we have the leverage against your precious daddies. You'll see, Marie, Thomas, that your daddies aren't the golden angels from Heaven that you so previously thought. You'll see 'em for what they are: frauds."**_

"THEY'RE NOT FRAUDS!" screamed Marie. "THEY'RE GOOD PEOPLE! **YOU** ARE A BAD PERSON!"

_**"Good people, eh? Well, what do you say about **_**this_, Marie Flynn?"_**

There was a small beep, signifying the end of the heated conversation, followed several seconds later by a screen automatically lowering itself from the ceiling. Marie and Thomas watched as a security image appeared on said screen. A date shown at the bottom right indicated that the footage was filmed fifteen years ago. The two watched as teenage versions of their fathers sneaked into the back of the theater of the Old Danville Science Fair. Waiting there was an enormous device that seemed to hold a sphere at its center with sturdy arms.

Marie and Thomas watched as Phineas and Ferb began tinkering with the machine, which resulted in flying sparks that apparently signified the machine's malfunction. The sparks landed on a curtain, setting it ablaze.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what do you think Phineas and Ferb did fifteen years ago to tick off Thaddeus and Thor? Obviously it has something to do with that machine.

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews, sorry):

**iheartphinabella05**

**14AmyChan**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**damonika2009**

**gamelover41592**

**agent josie**

**Luvphinbella89 (guest reviewer)**

**BlueLightningXD**

**Deborahpflover**

**Proxus (guest reviewer)**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	9. Interrogation, Part 1

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Antonio de la Torre Saavedra DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.

* * *

"Where are they, Antonio?" Kestler asked. He and Antonio were currently inside a confined interrogation room, sitting opposite from one another in an iron table. Lining three of the four walls were fluorescent lamps that illuminated the room's interior with a blue light. Antonio merely stared back expressionlessly at the police lieutenant, his severely bruised and swollen eye obvious despite the bright blue light.

"Where are who?" replied Antonio, sighing heavily. "I need details here."

"You know who I'm talking about, Antonio."

"No, I don't. Listen, I'm not having a good day today. I get late for work, I got whacked in the face by a folding chair, I get fired, and most of all, I get arrested by _your_ officers, who refused to disclose much information to me. I'll cooperate, I swear! But I need to know what the hell I did!"

"I'll tell you what you did," snapped Kestler tersely. "You kidnapped two innocent children in broad daylight, that's what you did!"

Antonio's eyes widened in shock and surprise. "WHAT?!" he exclaimed. "I would NEVER do that, not in my entire _lifetime_!"

"Well, that'd be a fine and dandy thing to say for your defense, if it weren't for the fact that you have the following against you: a rock-solid motive, a terrible alibi, and a fingerprint positively matched to yours found at a crime scene!"

One of Antonio's eyes twitched menacingly. "Listen here," he snarled defensively, "being caught in air-traffic is _not_ a terrible alibi; it's the goddamn truth! And what in the world do you mean by 'motive'? What motive do I have in taking two children? Are cops not supposed to tell any details to the suspects they arrest anymore?!"

"Oh, so you want all the details, eh?" Kestler stood up from his chair, approached Antonio, and suddenly slammed the file he had been holding the entire time onto the surface of the desk, startling the suspect. The lieutenant then opened it up, revealing, among official investigation reports, two photos, one of Marie, the other Thomas. He picked up Marie's photo and flashed it upon Antonio's face.

"See this girl? You see this girl?! You see her?! This is one of the children you have kidnapped! Lord knows what's happening to her in captivity! You kidnap her, and all because you just wanna get back at the woman who rejected you!"

Antonio's eyes widened even more at the sight of Marie's face on the picture. "That's Isabella's girl!" he exclaimed.

"Of course, were you _blind_ the moment you took her?!" shouted Kestler, grabbing tufts of Antonio's hair. "Look at this picture! She's _nine years old_, for God's sake! How could you possibly _do_ this to a child like her?!"

"My GOD!" Antonio screamed in horror and revulsion. "I would NEVER do something like this! I'd NEVER kidnap and harm a KID! _Especially_ not Isabella's kid!"

"Well then, explain why we found your fingerprint at Gretchen Davison's house."

"That nerd who's friends with Isabella? I've never BEEN to the house! What does _that_ have to do with Marie's abduction anyway?"

"Isabella was called away by what appeared to be Gretchen inviting her for a shopping trip at the New Googolplex Mall. Turns out, it was an impostor who had been calling from Gretchen's own phone, in Gretchen's own house, and using Gretchen's own voice. _You_ work at an electronics store, where you can have access to a lot of nifty devices. And guess what? Your boss told us that there was one less voice-changer device in the store's voice-changers stock, and that he thinks it might've been you who took it because _you_ tried to steal a voice-changer device a couple of weeks prior to the kidnappings."

Antonio sighed and replied, "Okay, I'll admit, I intended to take that voice-changer and use it to trick Isabella into coming to a Redding City hotel room I was staying at. But I swear, I ditched the plan after my boss caught me trying to steal it! I never used a voice-changer earlier today!"

"I doubt it," Kestler replied bitterly. "Voice-changers don't just vanish into thin air-"

"I'M TELLING YOU, I DIDN'T DO **ANYTHING**!" screeched Antonio, furiously slamming his fists onto the table. "I WOULD **NEVER** DO SOMETHING AS DRASTIC AS **THIS**! I KNOW I HAVE A TERRIBLE ALIBI, I KNOW I HAVE MOTIVE, I KNOW THE ODDS ARE AGAINST ME, BUT I SWEAR TO **A BILLION BIBLES** THIS WASN'T MY DOING! THIS ISN'T **ME**! IF I WERE TO SEEK REVENGE, I WOULDN'T GO AFTER ISABELLA, OR THE PEOPLE SHE CARES ABOUT! I WOULD **NEVER** DO THAT TO HER! NO, I'D JUST GO AFTER THAT GODDAMN BASTARD WHO **STOLE** HER FROM ME! YEAH, I'D JUST GO **DIRECTLY** AFTER THAT RED-HAIRED, TRIANGLE-HEADED, STUCK-UP SON OF A-"**  
**

The door burst open and the blur of a man grabbed Antonio, practically dragged him off of his chair, and slammed him hard against a wall with such strength that it cracked the protective glass containing the fluorescent lamps.

"WHERE **IS** SHE?!" Phineas hollered as Detectives Carson and Easton came into the room and tried to restrain him. "WHERE IS MY **DAUGHTER**, YOU SICK BASTARD?!"

Antonio blinked, his face full of fear for a second, but it then turned into one of loathing. His lips curved into a sinister sneer.

"Hello, _Flynn_," he snarled. "Long time, no see. Tell me, what's Isabella doin'?"

Phineas let out an inhuman roar and, without warning, grabbed tufts of Antonio's hair. In a blind fit of rage, he pulled Antonio's head back hard and then slammed it hard against the protective glass, shattering a portion of it and causing him to collapse to the floor, groaning dazedly.

"Medic, we need a medic!" Carson shouted.

"That's it, Mr. Flynn!" exclaimed Easton. "You crossed a line here! You're under arrest for assault!"

Phineas went dead silent as Carson handcuffed him and took him out of the room. Kestler, in the meantime, watched as police medics came into the room and lifted a groaning, stunned Antonio onto a stretcher.

"Damn it," was all he could mutter as he watched the case's only liable suspect being taken out of the room.

* * *

"What was _that_, Phineas?!" Ferb shouted as he escorted Phineas out of a jailhouse. It had been almost two hours since Phineas's arrest for assaulting Antonio, and Ferb had managed to bail him out of prison by pooling money from his bank account.

"I had to do it, Ferb," Phineas replied quietly as he walked with his stepbrother into the parking lot. "He was insulting Isabella."

"Well, it's way past five o'clock now. Who knows what happened to Thomas and Marie? All thanks to you freaking out-"

"It was all justified, all right, Ferb?!" screamed Phineas.

"_Justified_?" Ferb stared at Phineas, anger masking his face. "Antonio's was the best lead, _and only lead_ the police had in the case, and you gave him a concussion! He's at a hospital, still out like a light, and doctors are fearing that he might have a brief period of amnesia when he comes to! Thomas and Marie's lives are at stake, and you're saying attacking Antonio was _justified_? You've practically _killed_ our children-"_  
_

Suddenly, Phineas went into another blind fit of rage and punched Ferb in the face, sending him falling to the ground. Nearby pedestrians instantly noticed and either gasped or stepped back in concern; one even whipped out his cell phone just in case. And, just as quickly as it came, Phineas's rage disappeared, and he gasped in horror and shock at his irrational act.

Bending down to Ferb's side, he exclaimed, "Oh my God, Ferb! I'm so _sorry_-"

"It's okay, it's okay," Ferb replied quickly, but there was no mistaking the angered tone in his voice. He stood up, brushed his clothes, wiped blood trickling from the small cut on his lip, and walked away.

"Ferb, I said I'm sorry-" began Phineas, but Ferb raised a hand at him, silencing him.

Without saying another word, the two got into Ferb's hovermobile. Before Ferb could start it, his cell phone rang. Looking at its screen, he saw that it was Vanessa's number, so he instantly answered it.

"Hello, Vanessa?!" he asked worriedly. "What happened?!"

"Ferb, get to Danville Park, quickly!" Vanessa's voice shouted fearfully. "Someone found two bodies there!"

Ferb's face paled. Phineas recognized the look on his stepbrother's face, and his jaw dropped open in horror.

"We're on our way," Ferb replied quickly.

* * *

**A/N:** So, are those two bodies Marie and Thomas? Or could they belong to someone else...s... (There's no plural for 'else', :P)

I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:

**iheartphinabella05:** Yes, things did she get interesting, yes...

**Proxus (guest reviewer)**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**fan-like-irving:** I shall keep updating indeed! After all, I did just now! XD

**agent josie:** Whoa, GREAT! overdose! And you'll find out what's gonna happen to Marie.

**damonika2009:** You'll find out Thaddeus and Thor's motivations in the following chapters.

**gamelover41592**

**Sabrina06:** Not right, huh? Hopefully this next chapter solves things, I think.

**14AmyChan**

**humanusscriptor:** Thanks for reviewing two chapters at once. It means a lot to me.

**woodland5 (guest reviewer):** Bad feeling, eh? Well, you'll learn more about what Phineas and Ferb did to Thaddeus and Thor.

**tigerevans**

**Deborahpflover:** Yes, poor Marie, oh poor her. Thanks for loving the song! I made it myself. Yes, yes he is horrible. You'll find out in later chapters. And I updated! YAY!

**BlueLightningXD:** Great guess! You'll find out if that's true in chapters to follow, though.

Wow, that's probably the most reviewers a chapter in this story's ever gotten! Thank you very much for the positive reviews, fellas! Here, a cyber cookie for y'all! *starts throwing out cyber cookies*

Well, hope you enjoyed this suspenseful chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	10. Interference, Part 2

**A/N:** FYI, the first half of this chapter takes place during the time-period that occurred between Phineas assaulting Antonio and Ferb bailing Phineas out of jail. The last half will conclude the last chapter's shocking cliffhanger.

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Antonio de la Torre Saavedra DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.

* * *

Isabella watched painfully as Phineas was put into a police cruiser, and an unconscious Antonio into an emergency vehicle. Sighing with sadness, she walked back into the police station, closely followed by Ferb and Vanessa. Waiting inside the station were Vivian, Candace, Linda, Lawrence, Doofenshmirtz, and Charlene, all of whom looked as if they had been punched in the abdomens after witnessing the arrest of the most optimistic, nonviolent person they ever knew.

"Ferb, what in the world _happened_?!" exclaimed Linda with horror. "Why did they take Phineas away in cuffs?"

"He knocked out Antonio in the interrogation room," Ferb replied bitterly, shaking his head with disapproval. "Our prime suspect's now unable to talk, and Thomas and Marie are somewhere, continuing to suffer from whatever kind of torture he is giving them." He quickly glanced at the clock; it was just five minutes before five o'clock dawned upon them. "And for all we know, in five minutes, they could be...they could be..."

But he couldn't muster the courage to complete the sentence. Vanessa instantly broke down in tears.

"Oh, why?!" she screamed, catching the attention of the officers in the room. "Why, oh _why_ did this HAPPEN?! WHY?!" Vanessa collapsed onto a chair and held her head in her palms. "Oh, it's all _my_ fault. I shouldn't have been very strict on Thomas so much... Maybe if it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been in the garage in the first place, and neither would Marie... Oh, it's my fault, my fault, MY FAULT!"

"Vanessa, honey, don't say that!" Ferb exclaimed.

Suddenly, Vanessa threw Ferb a hateful glance. "OF COURSE IT IS! And you know what I just _realized_? YOU are up to as much blame as I am for our son's kidnapping! If I wasn't so supportive of Thomas, why weren't YOU?! He LOVED you, Ferb! He looked up to YOU! AND YOU LET HIM DOWN!"

"Don't put the blame on me too, honey!"

"Please don't argue-" Linda began.

"SHUT IT!" Vanessa snapped.

Ferb's eyes widened, and he snapped back, "DON'T YOU TALK TO MY MOTHER LIKE THAT, VANESSA!"

"Your _mother_?!" Vanessa was definitely maddened by grief. "What happened to _stepmother_?!"

If Ferb's eyes couldn't get any wider, they did. Before he could continue the argument, Candace pulled him back, while Charlene did the same to Vanessa.

"That's IT!" shouted Lieutenant Kestler, who had just arrived on the scene. "We can't have you guys arguing like this! We need to stay _focused_ if we are to find your son, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher! So SETTLE DOWN!"

"Who cares?" Vanessa spat. "It's five o'clock now. My son's dead. ...My little boy's _dead_... And it's all _my fault_..." She tore away from Charlene and ran down a hallway, bumping into a police officer coming the opposite direction; however, she was too stricken with grief to apologize.

"Oh, Vanessa..." Doofenshmirtz said pitifully. He then frowned angrily and marched toward the exit door of the station.

"Heinz, where in God's name are you going?" Charlene asked.

"Getting some help," replied the evil scientist as he left the station.

* * *

_Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!_

Settling his hovermobile on the DEI balcony, Doofenshmirtz got off, ran up to convenient pile of useless junk, and started quickly grabbing items at random, assembling all that he could together with the intention of fabricating an Inator. As he did, Norm, his robotic servant, came into the laboratory, observing his creator's movements.

"Sir, what are you doing?" the robot asked.

"Making an Inator," replied Doofenshmirtz.

"Planning on conquering the Tri-State Area again, sir? Just like the 9,131 times before, you will fail by Perry the Platypus and Steve the Chameleon's hands."

"I _know_, Norm. But this time, I do not intend to pursue another attempt at conquest! I plan on getting Perry the Platypus and Steve the Chameleon here to _help_ me. My grandson's in dire need, and only _they_ can solve this dilemma! So shut up and help me, Norm!"

"Right away, sir!"

"By the way, Norm...you _counted_ all the times I've been defeated?"

"Right from day one, sir."

* * *

Ferb and Charlene watched from a safe distance as Vanessa continued to sob into her palms. It was ten minutes past five o'clock, and the Danville Police Department was now scrambling even faster than ever to deduce where Antonio might keep Marie and Thomas, only to find dead ends at every corner they looked. The many news crews that were swarming outside like ravenous ants, continuing to cover the ongoing situation, had now started to assume, from the lack of suspects and the frantic nature of the officers, that Marie and Thomas might already be either dead or located out of state...or maybe even out of the country...

"What should I do?" Ferb asked, beseeching Charlene. "She blames me as much as herself for what happened to our son. I really don't know what will happen when I come up to her and try to comfort her."

"I'll talk to her," Charlene replied. "If she won't listen to you, then she'll listen to me."

Ferb nodded with understanding and watched as the older woman cautiously approached her only daughter.

"Vanessa?"

"Go away, Mom," Vanessa replied between sobs.

"Come on, is that the perfect way to treat your mom?"

"Seriously, Mom, go away!"

"Vanessa, I know this is hard. But you _cannot_ blame yourself, or even your husband. The both of you aren't to blame for what happened. It's the person or persons who kidnapped Thomas, they're the only ones who're to blame for everything that's happened."

"But I was being strict on Thomas, and that got him in the garage, where he was vulnerable! And Marie was trying to cheer him up! It's all because of me that the _both_ of them are kidnapped! Now Phineas blames me for Marie's abduction, and the worst part is...he's _right_..."

"Phineas ISN'T right, Vanessa! You were just being a parent, doing what any other parent would do to their kid: being strict on them. I am pretty sure you can recall me being strict on you when you were younger."

"Yes, but it's just that...the last time I saw Thomas, he _hated_ me! He _yelled_ at me!"

"Oh, honey, no matter what Thomas does to you, deep inside, he still loves you. You know that, he knows that. That's all that matters."

Vanessa sniffled and hugged her mother, continuing to sob. "Oh, I know, Mom! I just...I honestly can't _handle_ this! I'm so sorry!" Though Ferb was never nearby, and she never seemed to register any noticing of his faraway presence, she replied, "I'm _really_ sorry, Ferb."

"I know you are," Ferb replied. He then turned around and headed down the opposite direction, towards the exit. There, he found Candace waiting.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm gonna bail Phineas out."

* * *

_Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!_

As Perry and Steve's hovermobile levitated above the DEI balcony, the former examined his protege pitifully. Thomas's kidnapping continued to emotionally affect Steve to a profound extent, and when Major Monogram assigned them to another mission of thwarting Doofenshmirtz amidst a short, seemingly nonchalant condolence, the chameleon looked almost ready to abort the mission immediately.

Once Perry landed the hovermobile, he and Steve jumped out of it and immediately found the evil scientist standing on the balcony, his Inator (a poorly-made, frail turret that seemed to have no purpose whatsoever) beside him.

"Ah, Perry the Platypus, Steve the Chameleon, you're here!" Doofenshmirtz exclaimed happily. "Now, gotta get things underway..." He instantly pressed a button on the Inator, which instantly self-destructed, shocking the two agents. "Okay you two, I have a REALLY big problem, and I need _your_ help!"

Perry and Steve's eyes widened; they were unsure if this was a trap.

"My grandson, Thomas Fletcher, has been mysteriously kidnapped."

Upon hearing that statement, Perry and Steve, knowing fully that Doofenshmirtz was Thomas's grandfather but also aware that their arch-nemesis didn't know of their secret identities as the hostile pets his grandson and great-niece owned, feigned innocent curiosity.

"Look, the police don't know where they could possibly be, and the odds aren't really looking good. Please, call a truce and help me find my grandson, for my daughter Vanessa's sake! _Please_? And I sweat, this is NOT a trap!"

Perry and Steve instinctively knew that Doofenshmirtz's sincerity and concern was genuine, so they nodded in agreement.

* * *

Back at the police station, Vanessa and Charlene approached Isabella, Candace, Linda, Lawrence, and Vivian.

"Hey, how're you feeling, Vanessa?" asked Linda.

"I'm okay...for now," Vanessa replied, smiling slightly. "...Sorry about my little comment to you back there-"

"Ah, it's okay. Trust me, I'd do the same thing if I were in your position."

"By the way, where's Ferb?"

"He went out to bail Phineas from jail," replied Candace.

Suddenly, Detective Carson ran up to the group, holding a photo in his hand. "Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Fletcher," he announced, "Antonio's alibi checks out. Security cameras on the freeway records him being stuck in traffic for the entire morning. He even gets out of his car to argue with a couple of other motorists. Here, this photo is proof." He displayed the photo to Isabella and Vanessa, which indeed clearly shows Antonio angrily shouting a couple that had tried to cut him off.

"That's...that's not _possible_!" exclaimed Vanessa. "How'd Antonio's fingerprint get inside Gretchen's house anyway?"

"I don't know, Mrs. Fletcher. Some officers are gonna interrogate her about the matter."

"Well, there goes our only suspect," Isabella noted, collapsing onto a chair in disbelief. "Phineas and Ferb will _flip_ when they hear about this. ...Antonio got knocked out for nothing." She then took a random glance at Vanessa and noticed something. "Uh, Vanessa?"

"Yes?"

"Where's your cell phone?"

* * *

_"Hello, Vanessa?! What happened?!"_

_"Ferb, get to Danville Park, quickly! Someone found two bodies there!"_

_"We're on our way."_

Ferb parked his hovermobile alongside Danville Park, and he and Phineas got out of the vehicle. To their surprise, there was a complete absence of police officers, news reporters, crime-scene tape, their wives, and even a potential corpse. People were frolicking about, doing daily outside activities. It was definitely no crime scene.

"What happened?" Phineas asked frantically. "Where are the police?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Ferb. "Vanessa specifically told me they found two bodies in Danville Park-" Suddenly, he put two and two together, and his eyes widened in shock and horror. "Oh, dear Lord, _no_..."

"What?"

"Lieutenant Kestler said that we were fooled by those false calls because someone was using Joey and Gretchen's cell phones, and a voice-changer. The number from my cell phone _is_ Vanessa's, and it was Vanessa's _voice_ speaking to me..."

Phineas came to the same realization too and gasped.

"It's a _trap_!"

"Really?" Ferb looked around, surveying the park. "Would the guy who set up the trap attack us in such a public place? Unless he's that desperate-"

Just then, his cell phone rang again, and Ferb looked at it.

It was Vanessa's number.

He looked at Phineas, who reluctantly nodded, and Ferb quickly put it on speaker-phone and answered the caller. "H-Hello?"

A low, raspy voice resonated from the cell phone. "You broke the first rule."

"What?" Phineas asked.

"You broke the first rule. No cops. Now, there'll be _repercussions_..."

"Who the hell are you?!" demanded Ferb. "Where are you keeping our children?! You'd better not hurt them!"

At first, it was silent for a few minutes. Then, a sinister, eerie cackling hammered away at Phineas and Ferb's eardrums.

"Hurt them?" the voice replied. "Oh, _no_...I have _no_ intention of hurting them. ...Not _yet_. For now, we'll enlighten you with a surprise. Keep your loved ones _closer_..."

"_We_?" Phineas asked. "There's _more_ of you?!"

"Enjoy the game..."

A second later, the two were greeted by a blast of ferocious static-noise, so loud that people nearby noticed. Ferb immediately hung up, grunting furiously.

"What the hell was that?!" he screamed. "And what in the world did he mean by 'keep your loved ones closer'?"

An uncomfortable feeling erupted within Phineas's gut, and he replied, "We gotta get back to the police station."

* * *

"I had it on me a second ago!" exclaimed Vanessa as she searched for her cell phone. "I couldn't have just lost it like that."

"Maybe you put on a desk and forgot all about it," suggested Detective Carson, blinking thrice.

"No, I _swear_ that I never removed it from my belt, not even once! The only way I could've lost it is if someone stole it from me without my knowledge. But this is a police station! Who the hell would wanna steal something in a _police station_?"

"I would."

Everyone glanced at a nearby desk, where a police officer was standing; Vanessa recognized him as the same officer she bumped into while going down the hallway. She glanced at his hands: one of them was holding her cell phone, the other a laser-rifle tucked under his shoulder. The officer giggled maniacally as he opened fire.

* * *

**A/N:** GAH! CLIFFHANGER! What'll happen next?!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**BlytheHasFreckles:** Yes, Phineas punched his own brother. How low of him. But then again, I wrote the scene. How low of ME! XD

**gamelover41592:** Thanks.

**damonika2009**

**BlueLightningXD:** I am well aware of similarities to the "Taken" films, but they weren't intentional. Just saying. And also, I'm willing to take on a lawsuit, lol! And yes, Phineas has changed a lot. I guess that's what happens when he becomes a father.

**14AmyChan**

**agent josie:** Apparently not.

**Kat (guest reviewer)**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**Deborahpflover:** I'm glad you love it more and more despite its progression into darkness! :D

**Proxus (guest reviewer):** Guess there AREN'T any bodies at all.

**iheartphinabella05:** Indeed it is a trick! :O

Well, hope you enjoyed this shocking chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	11. Intervention, Part 3

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

The eyelids of Thomas's eyes opened, and he continued to feel Marie's head resting against his left shoulder as she slept soundly. The two had been in this position for some time now; the nine-year-old didn't know how long, for there wasn't a clock or any other way to tell the time in the room they had now become accustomed to. But it didn't matter to Thomas; to him, he felt that every time he was in the room, he was safe as long as Marie was around. As the time extended infinitely inside the room, he found himself increasingly enjoying and finding solace in the cheerful, optimistic, bright attitude of Marie's that he would usually be annoyed at. It was an attitude that remained completely unbroken in contrast to her less-fortunate arm.

For some reason, Thomas decided to lean his head against Marie's own, which prompted an unconscious sigh from his step-cousin. The sigh wasn't one of sadness and misery, but it sounded like one of happiness and content, something that made Thomas smile. He then closed his eyes, continuing to enjoy the company of the very girl he usually found annoyance from. It was gonna be a good sleep, despite the horrible circumstances...

All of a sudden, a short but loud clanking sound echoed in the room, awakening both children. They watched cautiously and fearfully as the door slowly opened, and in the room stepped Thor Flagstad. His bulky form towered over the nine-year-olds like a terrifying giant.

"What do you want?!" Thomas demanded, standing up and stepping in front of Marie defensively.

Thor didn't respond, instead grabbing Thomas's shirt and lifting him into the air with astonishing strength. He did the same with Marie, and this earned pained cries and squeals from the redhead, as her broken arm dangled loosely from the position.

"HEY!" Thomas screamed, punching and kicking Thor as hard as he could, but not effecting him even in the slightest. "LET GO OF HER!"

Undaunted by Thomas's assault, Thor silently marched out of the room. Bright sunlight abruptly assaulted Marie and Thomas's eyes, and it took minutes for them to adjust to the sudden exposure. Once they did, the two saw that they were located on the fairgrounds of the old Danville Science Fair, which had burned down fifteen years ago from a disastrous fire that fortunately didn't incur any fatalities. Memories of the old security video Thaddeus showed them, the one of Phineas and Ferb sabotaging a strange device and therefore starting a fire, returned to Marie and Thomas's minds, and they began to wonder if their fathers were actually _responsible_ for the destruction that laid before them like a fallen creature of majesty and grace...

But the sight of the dilapidated, abandoned fairgrounds didn't last long, for Thor entered a theater and walked down dozens of rows of chairs. The two saw the main stage, which was currently occupied by Thaddeus, who was talking with someone on a cell phone. Though the curtains were drawn, it was obvious that something gargantuan was concealed behind them.

"Good," Thaddeus was saying into the cell phone. "Now, get it _done_. Remember, the civilians are a high priority! Remember that, or _else_." He hung up and immediately noticed Thor holding Marie and Thomas; he smirked maliciously. "Ah, Marie, Thomas! Nice of you to join us! You're just in time to see the show! Hopefully you'll enjoy it."

"I doubt it," spat Thomas.

Thaddeus's smirk only grew wider. "Oh, I guarantee you'll _like_ what you see. It's an action scene, full of classic gunfights straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon!" He procured a remote from his pocket, aimed it at the ceiling, and pressed a red button, to which a large screen started lowering itself from said ceiling. "Show's almost about to start! Take a seat, please!"

Thor took the cue and dropped Marie and Thomas; Marie yelped out in pain when she landed on her injured arm. Thomas looked at Marie with concern, then at Thor with spite and anger, but the large, bulky man just stared back with an expressionless face. Knowing fully well that he was no match for Thor, Thomas instead partook of Thaddeus's offer, helped Marie to her feet, and sat down in the nearest chair, as did Marie. Thor silently sat beside them, while Thaddeus skipped from the stage to another seat with a sadistic enjoyment that bordered on madness.

"LIGHTS!" he shouted.

Thor took out a remote of his own and pressed a button; darkness slowly but surely took reign of the theater, and light illuminated itself from the screen, which was showing camera static. However, seconds later, the screen switched to a security video that seemed to overlook an office, which was occupied by police officers. At one desk was a group of civilians, who were flanked by a police detective. Marie and Thomas's eyes widened, for they recognized the civilians.

"MOM!" they both cried at once.

"Shush!" Thaddeus snapped. "The show's about to begin!"

Marie and Thomas could only watch with horror as another police officer near Isabella, Vanessa, and their group took out a laser-rifle and started firing at them.

* * *

"GET DOWN!" Detective Carson roared.

Isabella, Vanessa, Candace, Linda, Lawrence, Vivian, and Charlene wasted no time in protesting. All seven immediately ducked behind the desk while Carson pulled out a laser-pistol as fast as he can. However, the rogue officer was faster; focusing his lasers on Carson, he struck him in the chest with one laser, and as the detective fell, another laser hit him squarely in the forehead.

The other officers quickly took notice and pulled out their own weapons, firing back. The rogue officer ducked behind a desk amidst a barrage of lasers, while a second officer also directed his laser-fire at his own colleagues.

"What's going on?!" Vanessa shouted over the gunfight. "Why are those cops firing at us?!"

"I don't know, but we gotta defend ourselves..." replied Isabella.

She then spotted Carson's fallen body, his laser-pistol half-clenched in his hand. Taking a quick glance at the rogue officers, who were busy engaging the other cops, Isabella then scrambled towards the pistol. The first shooter spotted Isabella and, still cackling sadistically, fired a single laser at her. The laser grazed the woman's hand, burning it, and flinched. The rogue cop attempted to take this opportunity to take a fatal shot, but Detective Easton, arriving at the scene, fired from her laser-pistol, hitting him in the face and killing him.

Witnessing the death of his partner, the other rogue cop fired at Easton, barely missing her and hitting a shelf, causing her and other officers to duck behind makeshift shelter. Isabella seized this short time-frame of opportunity to grab Carson's pistol and fire at the cop; a laser grazed the arm that was holding his weapon, causing him to drop it as he screamed out in pain. With him disarmed, three officers ran up to him.

"FREEZE!" one officer barked. "DON'T MOVE!"

"Please, please don't shoot!" replied the man.

"You're under arrest!" a second officer snapped, handcuffing the attacker.

Meanwhile, Easton ran up to Carson's body and felt his neck for a pulse.

"How is he?" Vanessa asked worriedly.

Easton just looked at her and shook her head sadly. Linda whimpered fearfully and clutched Lawrence, while Vivian and Charlene gasped in horror. In the meantime, Vanessa glanced at Isabella, whose frame was trembling severely as she continued to aim Carson's laser-pistol at the empty space previously occupied by the cop.

"Isabella, it's okay," she said. "You got him."

Isabella immediately dropped the pistol and clutched her injured hand, which had started bleeding profusely.

"Get a medic!" Vanessa exclaimed at Easton.

* * *

Ferb landed his hovermobile near the police station and found it surrounded by more news crews than usual, as well as ambulances and crime-scene tape. As he and Phineas got out of the vehicle, a medic team of four exited the station, carrying an occupied stretcher with a drape concealing the limp body. Phineas instantly noticed and ran up to the medics, discomfort and near-nausea boiling in his stomach.

"WHO IS THAT?!" he screamed. "WHO IS THAT ON THE STRETCHER?! IS IT MY WIFE?!"

An officer noticed him and stepped between the inventor and the medics. "Stand back, mister," he said sternly. "This is-"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I NEED TO KNOW IF MY **WIFE** HAS BEEN KILLED-"

"PHINEAS!" a familiar voice called. Phineas looked at another ambulance and found Isabella sitting at the rear, her hand being treated by a medic, the others by her side. Sighing with relief, the inventor ran up to Isabella and embraced her tightly, while Ferb did the same with Vanessa.

"What _happened_?!" Ferb asked.

"Two officers opened fire," replied Vanessa. "Isabella got hurt, and one of the shooters is dead. ...And so is Detective Carson."

"My _God_...this was the work of the people who kidnapped Thomas and Marie."

Everyone else's eyes widened with shock. "_Really_?" asked Vanessa.

"Yes. When I bailed Phineas out of jail, I got a call from your cell phone. It was _you_, telling me to get to Danville Park because there were two bodies found there. We _fell_ for the trick...we went to Danville Park. We didn't find anything, and then, we got a call from your cell phone again, but this time, it was some guy who told us that we broke the first instruction he gave us in that note: no police. And then he said there'd be repercussions, and that there was more of him. Then he hung up."

Despite the barrage of sounds coming from all directions, it was dead silent to Phineas, Ferb, and the others. Finally, Vanessa spoke again.

"One of the cops that attacked us, he _had_ my cell phone."

"So, the guys who took Marie and Thomas," said Phineas conclusively, "they're..._caught_."

"Yeah. They're interrogating the surviving shooter right now."

Just then, Lieutenant Kestler came out of the police station, muttering to himself. Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Vanessa approached him.

"What'd the guy say, Lieutenant?!" Ferb demanded.

"Did he tell where Marie and Thomas are?!" Phineas asked hopefully.

"It's not him," replied Kestler.

Once again, silence fell despite the many noises of ambulance sirens, news crews, and helicopters.

"What?" Phineas asked.

"It's not him," Kestler repeated. "His name's Svend Flagstad, a man who just immigrated from Norway last week with his family. He's saying that two men kidnapped him and his family. They threatened to kill his family unless he infiltrate the police station and engage in a brief shootout."

"His family's been kidnapped too?"

"Yes. His wife and three kids."

Phineas pursed his lips together angrily.

"What about the other guy?" asked Isabella.

"It wasn't that hard to identify him. Garrett Fort, a paranoid schizophrenic. We arrested him a few years back, and he was involuntarily committed to an asylum for the insane, which burned down last week from what appears to be an arson fire. We assumed that he was one of the nine killed in the fire, so we didn't bother to put out a search for him. D'you know either of the two?"

"Svend Flagstad and Garrett Fort," Ferb said. "We don't even know the two. They're definitely not enemies of ours."

"Has Svend told you anything useful?" asked Phineas. "Anything at all?"

"Even better." Kestler took out a folded paper and handed it to Phineas. "He told me to deliver this to you two. That's why I approached you in the first place."

Phineas took the paper, unfolded it, and showed it to Ferb. On the paper was a message scrawled in red ink.

_"YOU'RE FREEZING COLD."_

* * *

Marie and Thomas both watched on as a security video recorded their fathers reading the letter. Just then, Thaddeus pressed a button on his remote, and the screen retracted back to the ceiling from which it came, while Thor seized the two nine-year-olds.

"HOW COULD YOU **DO** THIS?!" screamed Marie, looking at Thaddeus. "YOU **KILLED** SOMEBODY! YOU'RE A BAD PERSON!"

Thaddeus cackled, then snarled, "_I'm_ a bad person? Didn't you _see_ that video I showed you, the one of your precious daddy setting fire to this very fair? The city paid millions of dollars into that fair, and all of that went up in smoke! The city nearly went BROKE for crying out loud! And it's all because your father was jealous of the very invention that we made for the world. You think _we're_ bad people?! Maybe we are, but think about it; your father is as low as we are! Take 'em away, Thor!"_  
_

Thor nodded and half-dragged the two children out of the theater.

* * *

**A/N:** For some reason, I don't like the action scene. But whatev.

Thaddeus and Thor have just reached a new low. What a shame. And there are more victims? WHA?

It's almost 100 reviews! Who'll be my 100th reviewer? The person who fulfills that position will get a lifetime's supply of free cyber cookies!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews, sorry):

**iheartphinabella05**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**damonika2009**

**Yarthayaj'knaushtavdhladleklwa**

**gamelover41592**

**agent josie**

**14AmyChan**

**Proxus (guest reviewer)**

**Deborahpflover**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

Well, hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	12. Thaddeus's Game

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

"LET US GO!" Thomas demanded as he tried to struggle against the grip Thor had on him, but the bulky man's hand had a vice-like, almost unbreakable grip.

In contrast to the defiant Thomas, Marie didn't make any attempts of her own at struggling, mostly for the sake of her broken arm, which continued to hang limply like the limb of a wooden puppet. She could only wait with fear as Thor dragged her and Thomas across the skeleton that was the fairgrounds. It was at that point that Marie's mind began to wander to what Thaddeus had told her just a couple of minutes ago, and the mysterious security video he showed her.

Observing the ashy ruins of the Danville Science Fair, Marie began to wonder if Thaddeus's allegations were true. If so, her father and her uncle were arsonists who had nearly devastated her hometown economically...and as far she knew, they had yet to confess. The fairgrounds would remain in this haunting state of physicality, like a fallen, defeated corpse, whose killer would never be known, possibly for generations.

Marie's memories of her father were always joyful ones. She remembered him as the very person who taught her the principles of life she held to this day: optimism; a never-ending goal to make the best of the day; compassion aimed towards others, be they family, friends, or strangers; and, most of all, passing the time by creating the best of inventions, even if they had to explode by the end of the day... He had always been her greatest role model. But now that a new light was being shed on Phineas, a light of malice and bitterness, Marie didn't know what to believe anymore. The security footage looked very legitimate, but surely her father wouldn't have done something as horrendous as burning down the entire Danville Science Fair fifteen years ago...would he?

Marie had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she was surprised when Thor threw her and Thomas roughly back into their prison cell. Unfortunately, she landed on her broken arm; needles of white-hot pain shot up from her shoulder with ferocity, and she let out a howl of agony. Hearing the door close, followed by the clanking sound of a lock being put back in place, she struggled to hold back tears as she sat up.

"Marie, are you okay?" Thomas asked.

Marie felt inclined to nod, but she remembered Phineas's lesson that lying was never good. A shade of doubt cast itself over her, and she began to mentally jump back and forth from telling the truth or committing the sin of lying. However, she bade her time too long that Thomas instantly deduced the answer.

"Look, we're gonna get outta here," he said. "We're gonna get outta this place and go back to our parents, I promise that."

"It's not getting back to my parents I'm worried about," she moaned. "It's that video those guys showed us." Marie looked up at Thomas with teary eyes. "Tommy, do you believe them? Do you really think our dads caused the fire that burned down this place?"

Thomas's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No. They're trying to trick us. This is part of their game; they want us to turn against our dads if they get caught."

_**"Damn right it's part of the**** game."**_ Thaddeus's voice echoed across the room, startling the two nine-year-olds. _**"But, believe it or not, it's the**_** truth_. It cannot be denied. Your fathers were cheats and frauds, like I've always said."_  
**

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Thomas screamed.

_**"Oh, why should we, when we've just enlightened you with a truth of biblical proportions? You are free to deny the truth all you want, kids, but it'll hit you both, sooner or later. And believe me, you'll **_**thank _us when it does."_**

"We'll thank you once you let us go!"

_**"Quite a defiant one, aren't you, little Thomas?"**_

"WHY?!" Marie cried. "Why do you _hate_ my dad so much?! What'd he ever do to you?!"

_**"*tsk tsk tsk* You STILL don't get it, Marie? How **_**disappointing_... Looks like you're gonna need further reeducation and reconditioning..."_**

On cue, the door unlocked itself and swung open again, revealing the towering form of Thor. He stomped into the room, seized Marie's uninjured arm, and proceeded to drag her out of the room. Thomas realized that Thor was only taking Marie, much to his horror.

"MARIE!" he shouted.

"TOMMY!" Marie screamed back.

"LET HER GO!"

Thomas kicked Thor in the shin as hard as he could, but once again, his rebellious protests failed against the larger man. He looked down at the nine-year-old with an expressionless face, almost resembling like some sort of zombie, and then suddenly threw a punch at Thomas's face with his unoccupied fist, knocking him out instantly and sending him crashing back into the opposite wall.

"**TOMMY**!" screeched Marie as Thor closed the door.

* * *

Soon after Thor closed the door, a blindfold had been forcefully placed over her eyes, so Marie couldn't see where she was going as she was half-dragged across the fairgrounds once again. The nine-year-old assumed that she was going in a completely different direction, as the trip seemed to take longer than usual. As she walked, a sound of hovermobiles flying along appeared and came closer and closer; was she going near the highway? Marie wanted to scream out as loudly as she could for help, but she could still feel Thor's presence, and remembering the punch he gave to Thomas, she abandoned that thought.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking,she could hear the slamming of a door, and the sounds of hovermobiles were wiped out. The blindfold was removed soon after, and Marie quickly found herself standing in a room completely shrouded in darkness. She couldn't see anything, not even the hands in front of her. She instantly began desiring light to illuminate her surroundings.

As if her thoughts were being read, light flooded the room. It was damp and a bit terrible, as it came from a single dirty light bulb hanging from the ceiling, but it was well enough for Marie to see what was surrounding her in a near-circle: dozens, maybe hundreds of photos, magazine covers, and newspaper clippings of Phineas and Ferb throughout the years. Marie looked around and gasped with horror; some of the photos had _her and Thomas_ on them, starting when they were infants.

_"Those two have been following us around _that_ long?"_ Marie asked in her mind.

"Yes, it has been such a while."

Marie screamed in fear, twirling around to see Thaddeus standing there, his eyes wide as they gaped at her, his arms hanging limply. He almost resembled one of the zombies she had to unfortunately see in a horror movie. The disgraced inventor took a few steps forward; Marie stepped back, but tripped on a piece of concrete that was sticking out of the floor and fell on the floor.

"Fifteen years to be exact," continued Thaddeus, his gaze now focused on the collection of photos he and Thor amassed. "We were gonna change the world with our newest invention. But your dad and your Uncle Ferb _ruined_ that dream. And now, our failure at _their_ hands became the very supporting columns of _their _success. All of the things that are the father you know and treasure were all because of an antic he committed out of pure jealousy.

"I mean, those two, _they_ didn't have enough time to create an invention for that science fair fifteen years ago, and our magnificent invention, our Mona Lisa, our Eiffel Tower, was obviously the biggest of them all. It was a machine that could generate enough power to support an _entire world_ for a millennium. It was gonna _work_.

"But your jealous father and uncle tampered with the machine and started the fire that burned down the fair to the point of no repair. Because the city was already on the verge of economic downfall, the mayor decided not to tear down the fairgrounds and start anew, so he went with the cheaper prospect of setting up new territory for a brand-new Danville Science Fair. In the meantime, Thor and I took the blame for the disastrous fire. The media turned us into pariahs, and we were disowned by our family, while your precious daddy and uncle got away with the crime and became the successes you know today.

"Why do you keep defending your father, Marie? Huh? Weren't you taught not to side with the bad guy? Your father and your uncle are the bad guys! They're the bad guys who made _us_ bad guys! Wouldn't that make them badder? Huh? There's no point in defending the bad guy, since there's no benefit!"

"You're LYING!" screamed Marie, finally regaining the courage to speak against him. "You don't KNOW my daddy!"

"DIDN'T WE SHOW YOU THE SECURITY TAPE?!" Thaddeus roared, stomping his foot. "WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO MAKE YOU **UNDERSTAND**?!"

Marie bit her quivering lip as she struggled to hold back tears; Thaddeus's anger reminded her of her father's, his only flaw and her single fear. Thaddeus seemed to have noticed, as the look on his face softened to an expression of sorrow and pity. He knelt down towards Marie, who was too paralyzed with fear to scramble away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Marie, I shouldn't have made that outburst. But, listen to me, you must understand this; the tape shows you everything. Your daddy and uncle tamper with our device. That starts a fire. They run away. ...Has your father ever told you about the things he did fifteen years ago, when he was in high school?"

"He told me of the time he met my mom-"

"That doesn't count. What about the inventions he made? Has he ever mentioned anything to you about his life fifteen years ago besides meeting your mom?"

Marie remained silent, thinking about Thaddeus's question. To her shock, Phineas usually never told her about his life beyond inventing. The only exception of that was his high-school years, when he fell in love and became romantically involved with Isabella. During that event, he failed to tell her a single detail about the inventions.

"See?" Thaddeus remarked. "He didn't tell you _anything_ besides of how he met your mom. Didn't you get the feeling that he was _hiding something_ from you?"

"I thought he didn't invent much during that time," replied Marie.

"Oh, no. As his rival, I would try to know what he did in order to keep up with him and beat him at his own game. And alas, he built a number of stuff during his years at high school! There was this so-called best stage-play ever, a device that helped students prepare for upcoming finals, and then I remember some magic bow that he gave to your mom. Those are some of MANY examples of what he did. He never ran out of ideas! Has he ever mentioned any of the following to you?"

Marie reluctantly shook her head. Thaddeus smiled, then he stood up and held out his hand to Marie.

"Let me help you up," he said.

Marie continued to frown at him. "I still don't trust you," she replied bitterly. "You could be lying to me..."

Thaddeus lowered his hand and sighed sadly. "Very well. I guess I have no choice but to go for the nuclear option..."

He took out a remote and pressed a button. All of a sudden, robotic arms appeared from the ceiling and grabbed Marie's limbs, picking her up from the ground and leveling her at the same height as Thaddeus's head. She had no choice but to watch as Thaddeus walked towards a corner, where a chair stood. He took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Thor, bring him in."

The door opened, and Marie gasped upon seeing Thomas's unconscious body slung over Thor's shoulder like a bag. Thor set the boy on the chair, took out duct-tape, and used it to tie Thomas to the chair.

"Whether or not you will trust me, Marie," Thaddeus snarled, "you will have no choice." He took out, much to Marie's horror, one of the old-fashioned revolvers she saw in an old Western flick. "Have you ever heard of the game Russian Roulette? You put a single bullet into this gun's cylinder, spin it, load the gun, point it at someone, and pull the trigger to see if the gun will fire or not. Now, because my initial plan failed, I will improvise: you will give me and Thor permission to kill your father and your Uncle Ferb, otherwise little Thomas dies. You will have a maximum of six chances to decide his fate, as this gun's loaded with a single bullet. Now..."

He aimed the revolver at Thomas's head.

"Let's play round one, shall we? Allow your father and uncle to die, or allow Thomas to die. Your choice."

* * *

**A/N:** God, such SADISM! Thaddeus and Thor are gonna GET IT!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews, sorry):

**Sabrina06**

**Guest reviewer #1**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**damonika2009**

**humanusscriptor**

**gamelover41592**

**14AmyChan**

**Deborahpflover**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**Proxus (guest reviewer)**

**agent josie**

**BlueLightningXD**

**Rainbow Phinny**

**Guest reviewer #2**

Before I go, I'd like to thank BlytheHasFreckles for being this story's 100th reviewer! A lifetime's supply of free cyber cookies for you! And as a reward for the rest of you, you'll all get a free cyber cookie too! Thanks, everyone, for reviewing this story, despite the fact that it is so un-Marie-and-Thomas-like.

Don't fret, next chapter will have a little Perry and Steve action! :D

Well, hope you enjoyed this shocking chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	13. Turning Point

**A/N:** I remember someone asking where Antonio can be seen, so I thought that question should be answered before we get on with the chapter. Antonio's debut is in Angelus19's comic book "Chaos Through Time", which can be seen on DeviantArt. There is also a fan-made trailer on Vimeo. I recommend watching it; it's awesome.

Enough chitchat! ENJOY!

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

A stormy night fell upon Danville, and the police hadn't gotten any closer to finding Marie and Thomas. Kestler and Easton tried to interrogate Svend Flagstad, but ever since he delivered Phineas and Ferb a letter sent from his employers, he has yet to speak another word. No one could blame him, for his wife and three kids were also kidnapped and likely suffering similar conditions as Marie and Thomas.

Phineas and Ferb paced around impatiently in the Fletcher living room, while everyone else was seated in chairs or the sofa. Having joined the group was Candace's husband Jeremy Johnson and their children Amanda, Xavier, and Fred, whom were finally given access to their wife/mother after learning that she was nearly killed in the shootout at the police station. Doofenshmirtz was still mysteriously absent, and there was a lesser presence of officers inside and around the house, for now that one of their own had been slain in the shootout, the Tri-State Area was put on the highest alert for the kidnappers, now judged to be armed and dangerous.

"Okay, so how would those guys have access to the P&F Industries headquarters?" Phineas asked. "It's obvious they were able to break into Gretchen's house to make that call for Isabella, but our installed security systems would've been able to detect something wrong, such as someone impersonating someone else's voice in order to make a legitimate phone call. Ferb, are you sure those systems have been checked?"

"Yeah," replied Ferb. "Joey sent me back the results. There was no breach of security, of any sort."

"Look, I know you both want to bring Marie and Thomas back home safely," Jeremy said, "but I think you should let the police take care of the investigation. The two of you are _really_ working yourselves, way above your own standards."

"I agree," added Candace. "Look at you two! The both of you haven't taken a rest, and you look like hell!"

"Rest? _Rest_?!" Phineas exclaimed angrily. "My daughter and Ferb's son are out there, somewhere, suffering God knows what, and you're suggesting Ferb and I should _rest_ while the police do their work? Look at what happened! A cop is dead for crying out loud! This obviously is no game! Marie and Thomas are gonna _die_ if we don't find them soon! I can't let my little girl go just yet! I-"

"Phineas," Ferb interrupted, "I'm afraid that I also agree. This is probably what the kidnappers want us to do, use all of our strength and intelligence to pursue mere goose-chases until we completely tire out physically and mentally."

Phineas looked from Ferb to the others, and with a groan of frustration, he collapsed onto a chair. "I'm sorry. It's just that...it's just...I fear of actually _seeing_ her again."

* * *

_**"What do you mean, Phineas?"**_

Thomas groaned and opened his eyes, staring into the dirty, low-powered light generating from the bulb hanging from a ceiling. The first thing he could feel was semi-dry blood encrusted over his nose, lips, and chin, as well as a slightly dizzy feeling that distorted his senses. He tried moving his arms, but they were quickly and tightly restrained by some sort of bond. Looking around, he realized that he was tied to a chair, and that he was not in the cell.

_**"Isabella, for all of the nine years I've known our daughter-"**_

Thomas then heard a sniffling, and it wasn't coming from him. He instantly saw Marie hanging in front of him, suspended a few inches off of the floor by a set of robotic arms, her limbs stretched out. Unfortunately, that included her broken right arm, which was in some sort of awkward, painful position. Marie's eyes suddenly fluttered open and looked back at Thomas with, to the boy's opinion, the strangest of expressions.

_**"-she's been the brightest, most optimistic girl I have ever seen."**_

_**"She takes after you, Phineas, you know that."**_

_**"I know. But-"**_

Thomas soon noticed that boards were encircling the two. Observing them, his eyes widened upon identifying them as many photos, magazine covers, and newspaper clippings of Phineas and Ferb throughout the years; some of these photos included him and Marie, starting from when they were newborn babies.

He also noticed that there were two videos currently playing from side to side of the two, their sounds muted out. One video was a press conference held by Phineas and Ferb, announcing something that was evidently good news, judging by their smiles and movements. The other video was the security video Thaddeus showed the two, of their fathers tampering with a strange invention and causing a fire in the process.

_**"-after all those torturous hours she's spent with her captors-"**_

Thomas glanced at Marie again, and saw that tears were flowing from her eyes, and her lip was quivering terribly. His jaw slightly dropped in horror at the sight.

_**"-I am afraid of what I'll see if she's rescued."**_

_**"What do you fear of seeing, Phineas?"**_

Until now, Thomas never knew of his greatest fear, the thing that had the ability to eat away the corners of his subconscious like a contagious, ravenous disease. But now, the image of this fear was before him, manifesting itself through the damp, dark room with furious ferocity. The boy couldn't help but feel like a cornered animal, being caught at last by the predator that was chasing him.

_**"A broken Marie."**_

* * *

Just then, the front door flew open, and Lieutenant Kestler frantically ran into the house, holding a slightly torn package.

"We've got something!" he exclaimed.

"What? What happened?" Vanessa asked. "Did you find our children?"

"No, but we found Svend Flagstad's family, all safe and sound. They were found when they wandered into a gas station alongside a highway leading into Danville, and the wife was carrying this package. She said that her captors instructed her to give this to you two." He lifted the package for Phineas and Ferb to view. Scrawled all over the package were the words 'GETTING WARMER'.

"Let me see that," Phineas said as he took the package from the lieutenant, ripped it open, and took out its contents...

"A DVD case?" asked Isabella._  
_

Phineas walked over to the family room, approached the room's DVD player, inserted the disc, and turned on the TV, setting it to the proper viewing channel. Everyone, sans Amanda, Xavier, and Fred (who were kept out of the room by Jeremy), watched as the DVD played before their eyes.

* * *

_The first minute is just a black screen. Strange music plays._

_HELLO, PHINEAS AND FERB  
__LONG TIME, NO SEE_

_A video recording appears, showing clips that were evidently shot earlier that day. The clips are of Thomas protesting at Ferb before Ferb leaves the Fletcher house, and also Phineas and Isabella dropping Marie off at the same house. All of the clips were recorded at a considerable distance._

_IT'S NICE TO MEET UP WITH YOU TWO AGAIN_

_For a minute, the video is silent, and no words appear._

**_NOT!_**

_A slightly shaky, black-and-white video appears, showing a man with curly hair and wearing glasses, who is laughing while a large, bulky man stands silently behind him._

_HA HA HA  
__TRUTH BE TOLD  
__WE ARE NOT PLEASED TO SEE YOU AGAIN  
__WHICH IS WHY WE EXACT REVENGE  
__ON YOU_

_A tape of Marie and Thomas in a cell appears._

_YOUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN  
__INNOCENT THINGS, AREN'T THEY?_

_A tape appears, and it is of Marie suspended by robotic arms as she faces someone who is off-screen. __"I want my dad to DIE!" she screams._

_THEY ARE INNOCENT NO LONGER, THOUGH  
__WE'VE SHOWN THEM THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU_

_____A security tape appears. It shows a teenage Phineas and Ferb tampering with a strange device, causing it to spark on a nearby curtain and start a raging fire._

___AND THEY HATE YOU BOTH FOR IT_

___A tape of Marie and Thomas staring hatefully at the camera appears._

___TRUST US, PHINEAS AND FERB  
____THEY'RE BETTER OFF IN OUR CARE  
____THAN YOURS_

___BUT IF YOU WANNA SEE THEM AGAIN  
____FOLLOW THE SURNAMES  
____REEXAMINE THOSE THAT YOU TRUST  
AND_

___A tape of news footage covering a fire consuming a fairground appears._

___FIND THE FIRE_

___WE HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON  
PHINEAS AND FERB_

___TNT_

* * *

The DVD ended, leaving behind a shocked and horrified audience. A deathly silence had fallen upon the room, punctuated only by terrified whimpering from Vanessa.

"What the hell was _that_?!" demanded Phineas finally, his face crimson with uncontrollable rage, his fists clenched menacingly. "That didn't answer our problems; it only offered more questions! Those goddamn _bastards_, they're just playing with us, that's what they're doing!"

However, Ferb said, "I think I know what that video was talking about."

"What, Ferb?" Phineas and Vanessa asked simultaneously.

"Phineas, remember the old Danville Science Fair?"

"Yeah," Phineas replied, his eyebrow raised in slight confusion. "It burned down though, after-" The realization hit him head-on, and he exclaimed, "GODDAMN IT!"

"What?" Kestler asked. "Do you know who it is?"

"Yes, yes we do. Thaddeus Fort and Thor Flagstad. They were our arch-rivals in inventing from when we were ten to our high-school years. They disappeared after an invention of theirs nearly malfunctioned during the old Danville Science Fair and caused a fire that burned the fairgrounds down. The city was experiencing an economic windfall at the time, so the fairgrounds were left as the smoldering ashes they were and a new fair was built elsewhere."

"Yeah, I remember that!" Isabella exclaimed. "You found a flaw in Thaddeus and Thor's equation for their invention, and since those two were up in themselves, you two had no choice but to try and shut down that invention before it could self-destruct!"

"Unfortunately, the fire came along," added Ferb. "But it would've been worse, had Phineas and I not intervened."

"I'm guessing that Thaddeus and Thor were hit hard by that fire," Kestler said.

"Yep," Phineas replied. "Word immediately got out that it was Thaddeus and Thor's invention that caused the fire, and the two were blamed by the entire region for devastating such a beloved landmark. They withdrew from society and eventually fell off the grid. No one's heard from them since."

"That's almost everything! We have identification, motive, evidence...but what we _don't_ have is where they are, and where they're keeping the children."

"We know where they could be," Phineas suddenly said. "And they're gonna want me and Ferb to come in. No one else."

* * *

Overhearing the conversation from the backyard, Perry and Steve looked at one another.

"Do _you_ know these Thaddeus and Thor persons could be at?" Steve asked.

"I believe I know as well," chattered Perry, "and I have a very bad feeling that there could be a trap waiting for my owners. We've gotta get to the old Danville Science Fair quickly and sabotage the trap before Phineas and Ferb walk into it. Come, Steve!"

The platypus and the chameleon hopped onto the former's hovermobile. It flew away into the sky unnoticed.

* * *

"Follow the surnames, reexamine those that you trust, and find the fire," Ferb explained. "We have surnames; Thaddeus and Thor wanted to subtly hint that it was us, and they got Garrett Fort and Svend Flagstad to attack the police station because they have identical surnames. We also have the fire. But what I don't understand is that second part, reexamine those that you trust. ...Is there someone who _knew_ Thomas and Marie were gonna be taken?"

"Of course not," Phineas replied confidently. "That's probably part of their game; they want the both of us us to turn against our loved ones, and probably each other. We _cannot_ succumb to that, Ferb! We have to stay focused!"

"That's right. We've gotta get to the old fairgrounds!"

"NO!" Vanessa exclaimed. "There could be a trap!"

"Phineas, Ferb, don't go!" added Isabella. "This is probably what Thaddeus and Thor want you to do, walk into their trap and get killed in front of your children!"

"But if it'll free Marie and Thomas," Phineas said, "then we must do what is necessary. And right now, walking into Thaddeus and Thor's trap is necessity, as long as their lives are spared. I'm sorry, Izzie, but I'm all in for this."

"Me too, Vanessa," Ferb added.

"But you can't just go in alone!" Vanessa shouted.

"We have to protect our children," replied Phineas. "As parents, we promised ourselves that we'd lend our lives in exchange for our children's safety the moment Marie and Thomas were born. It's time Ferb and I lived out that promise. Isabella, Vanessa, we _will_ get our children back. You can depend on us for that."

Isabella and Vanessa looked at their husbands, reluctance on their faces. Finally, Isabella nodded, followed by Vanessa.

* * *

Standing outside of the fair theater, Thaddeus was looking up at the starry sky. The crescent moon cast a small light on the burned, ghostly landscape. The disgraced inventor felt a presence behind him and smiled.

"No matter how quiet you are, bro, I am so accustomed to it that I'll always hear you." Thaddeus turned around to look up at Thor, who looked back silently. "Tonight's the night we gain our rightful place in society, Thor. We will expose Phineas and Ferb for the liars and frauds they are, and we will live out our dream of being the two world-famous inventors who changed the world! Our names will be etched across the stars! We'll NEVER be forgotten!"

"Thaddeus, we're here," a female voice said.

"Excellent." Thaddeus turned to his side and saw eight people approaching him and Thor. "Is the invention ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Good. Thor, get the children."

Thor nodded silently and left, while Thaddeus approached the eight people who were his acquaintances. He suddenly hugged the woman who had addressed him.

"Good to see you again, sis," he said.

* * *

**A/N:** GASP! So Mandy's also in it! And you'll find out later, but in a way that you wouldn't think. And who do you think are the other seven people? You'd better think, because I'm giving them all identities, and I believe you are familiar with some of them! ;) ;) ;)

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**tigerevans:** Well, fifteen years of having to brood on a tragic event does that to people.

**Deborahpflover:** Actually, there's another purpose to that whole Russian Roulette game. You'll see later.

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**14AmyChan:** Oh, indeed! Thaddeus has officially gone psycho.

**gamelover41592:** Yep, practically _Saw_-style. And what do you mean by was it true, or was it them?

**Sabrina06**

**BlytheHasFreckles:** Of course you get cyber cookies! You're this story's 100th reviewer! I do that to all of my 100th, 200th, 300th, so-on reviewers. Thanks for your review! It really showed your enthusiasm of seeing this story to the end!

**agent josie:** Looks like you found out.

Wow. I really should get on with updating my "Evil Phineas" and "Midsummer Tragedy" stories. I didn't even update the latter in such a while!

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	14. Rescue Mission, Part 1

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

"Marie, please don't cry," moaned Thomas as he struggled to hold back tears of his own, tears induced by the horrific sight of his defeated friend.

"I'm sorry, Tommy," Marie replied between sobs. "I just...I just can't take this anymore! I'm in so much pain, and worse yet, I told Thaddeus to _kill_ our dads!"

Thomas's eyes widened with horror. "WHAT?!" he shouted.

"I _had_ to, Tommy. He was gonna _kill you_..." She cast a sad glance at the floor, and Thomas saw that she was looking at an old-fashioned revolver, like the ones he saw in Western movies. Lying at Marie's feet, its cylinder was open, but all six firing chambers were strangely void of any bullets. "But it was all for nothing... He-He tricked me... And now, our dads are gonna _die_ because of what I did to save you-"

Understanding the situation, Thomas interrupted, "No, Marie! You did the right thing!" He smiled kindly. "I mean...you defied all odds, to save _me_. Thank you..."

Marie sniffled. "But now, my dad, and your dad, are gonna get killed by them-"

"Knowing my dad and Uncle Phineas, they'll beat those guys for sure!" exclaimed Thomas honestly.

"I know." However, Marie's eyes continued to water, and her lip was still trembling severely. "It's just that...just...oh, Tommy, I'm so SCARED! I'm afraid that Thaddeus will kill us, and I don't want that to happen! He held a _gun_ to your head! Next time, it might not be empty..." The nine-year-old girl abruptly burst into tears. "I want my mommy and daddy! I just wanna go home, I _really_ wanna go home! PLEASE! I just wanna go back home and get hugged by my parents, and play with Jazz, and invent in the backyard only to have the inventions explode on me...I just want to return to the good ol' times! I don't wanna do this anymore!"

"Marie, _please_ don't cry!" Thomas said as he started to cry as well. "It'll be okay, just please stop crying! I promise you, everything's gonna be _okay_!"

Suddenly, the door swung open with an eerie, spine-tingling creak, and in stepped the towering, muscular, ever-so-silent form of Thor. Marie reduced her sobbing with a terrified whimper, while Thomas glared hatefully at his father's more malevolent counterpart.

"LET US GO RIGHT NOW!" he screeched.

Thor didn't respond; instead, he started untying Thomas as Marie watched, struggling to hold back tears out of fear that her captor would retaliate. As Thomas was being untied, the boy quickly formulated an idea and put it in motion as efficiently as he could.

"Why do you _listen_ to your brother? Don't you ever get tired of him telling you what to do?"

Again, Thor didn't respond. He finished untying Thomas and hoisted him above his shoulder without any difficulty. He approached the wall, pressed a button, and the robotic arms unlatched their claws from Marie's limbs. The redhead fell to the floor, and she yelped out in pain, the injury in her broken arm obviously being aggravated extensively from the sudden fall. Ignoring her pain, Thor also hoisted Marie over his unoccupied shoulder and proceeded to carry the two children out of the room. As he did so, Thomas continued his plan, all the while looking at Marie.

"Don't you feel any emotion? Don't you have a say in all of this? Did you wanna kidnap us in the first place, like your brother, or did you have some _reluctance_?"

His statements didn't seem to affect Thor, since he continued to stride across the fairgrounds uninterrupted. After a couple of minutes, Thor stopped and set Marie and Thomas to the ground; both fell over, having not walked on their own for almost half of the day.

Someone stepped before them, and the two children looked up. Though his face was mostly shrouded in shadow from the dark sky, they immediately knew who it was.

"Hello, kids," Thaddeus said. "Ready to make history?"

* * *

Perry and Steve's hovermobile settled above the old Danville Science Fair. The elderly platypus settled his vehicle down to the ground, and the two agents hopped out, brandishing their grappling-hook launchers. Hearing some voices in the distance, Perry signaled Steve that they should split up, and he nodded in response. Breaking away from his mentor, Steve traveled further into the fair's charred remains, activating his inbred camouflage reflex as a precaution.

Ignoring the thick smell of ancient ash, the chameleon continued his journey towards the source of the voices. Eventually, after several minutes of searching, he came across the fair theater, where he remembered Perry recalling that the devastating fire originated from that particular location. The voices sounded extremely close.

Scurrying over to the opposite side of the theater, where the voices seemed to be coming from, Steve began to hear in on the conversation being engaged.

"YOU LET US GO RIGHT NOW!" Steve immediately recognized that voice as Thomas's, and he had to refrain himself from not wildly bursting out of the shadows, attack his owner's captors, and compromise his secret identity.

"Why, Thomas, why must you be so _defiant_?" the voice of an older male asked. "I thought you'd be more like your father, the mute one-"

"MY FATHER'S NOT **MUTE**! YOU LET US GO, 'CAUSE WHAT YOU INTEND TO ACCOMPLISH IS FRUITLESS! OUR DADS WILL-"

"God_damn_ it, must you always stick up for your dad, Thomas?" This was followed by a sinister chuckle. "At least Marie thinks to the contrary, isn't that right, sweetie?"

Finally, Steve edged close enough to have a view on the situation. Marie and Thomas were lying on the ground, and standing directly behind them was a towering man whom the chameleon assumed was Thor. At their opposite side, looking down at them with a malicious smile, was evidently Thaddeus. Behind Thaddeus was a group of eight others; seven of them were wearing masks, but the eighth wasn't, allowing Steve to identify the person's physical characteristics: a feminine physique; curly, long brown hair; brown eyes; and clothes of a pale-blue T-shirt, a blue jacket with some sort of ID on it, and blue jeans with a black belt.

"You're _bad_..." Marie whispered angrily.

"Why, that's no way to treat your dad-"

"YOU'RE NOT MY **DADDY**!"

"Biologically, no. But considering all we've been through together, I _am_. At least I'll be a better father than you'll ever be. I don't have to keep any secrets from you."

Marie snarled, "You'll NEVER be my daddy."

Thaddeus smirked and replied, "Well, if you insist, little Marie. But whether you refer to me as 'Dad' or not, you're gonna lend me a helping hand to our grand scheme to usurp and then _kill_ your daddy, and Thomas's daddy too."

"I'll NEVER help you!"

Thaddeus snapped his fingers, and Thor suddenly seized Thomas's head.

"My bro Thor has spent the last fifteen years practicing on twisting off spheres glued onto poles, and they were practice well. He'll remove poor lil' Thomas's head with one flick. If you don't cooperate, Marie, I'm only gonna give you three seconds to bid any farewells to your friend-"

"Okay, OKAY!" Marie shouted, close to sobbing. "I'll...I'll _help_ you..."

Unable to take anymore of the situation, Steve started scaling the wall of the theater in order to access the roof quietly and without being seen. He needed a bird's-eye view if he were to take charge and turn the conflict around for the better. As he climbed the wall, he continued to hear the conversation.

"Very good, Marie" said Thaddeus. "Now, Gretchen, I believe I have something for you."

Stopping, Steve looked down and saw one of the masked people take off her mask, revealing herself as Gretchen. The auburn-haired woman cast a sad, pitiful glance at Marie and Thomas that almost seemed to read 'Sorry'.

"_Aunt Gretchen_?!" exclaimed Marie. "You're in CAHOOTS with them?!"

"I'm sorry, Marie," Gretchen replied. "You'll understand when this is over."

"Thanks for your well-deserved cooperation, Gretchen," Thaddeus interjected, snapping his fingers again. "Thor, bring him out."

Thor released his grip on Thomas and ventured into the theater. A few minutes later, he came out, half-dragging a bound man with him. Thor threw him to the ground, removed his bonds, and allowed the man to stand up and run into Gretchen's arms.

"Oh, honey!" exclaimed Gretchen. "I'm SO glad you're okay!"

"I wouldn't say you're okay," Thaddeus said suddenly.

"What?" Gretchen's husband asked, just a second before Thaddeus produced a laser-pistol from his pocket and pistol-whipped him to the ground, causing Gretchen to scream. Steve could only watch as Thaddeus held Gretchen and her husband at gunpoint.

"So sorry, you two, but despite full cooperation brought from the both of you, you're loose ends. And like any other loose end, they must be _eliminated_."

"WHAT?!" screamed Gretchen. "No, no you can't do this! We have children!"

"Don't worry. We'll go after 'em next."

Marie growled angrily at the threat against one of her mother's best friends, and also one of her own friends at the Fireside Girls organization. She tried to stand up and fight Thaddeus, but Thor noticed and kicked her. Her scream pierced through the air like a knife as she collided onto a supporting column for the theater.

"MARIE!" Thomas screamed.

"THOR!" snapped Thaddeus. "What the hell's the big idea? Don't _do_ that! We NEED her if our plan is to proceed, idiot!" Thor looked at the ground, downcast. Thaddeus approached Marie and helped her up as she started crying. "Forgive me, Marie, my brother's not the brightest in the bunch."

"No, it's not THAT," Marie replied. "You let my Aunt Gretchen go."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Oh, speaking of which..." Thaddeus once again pointed his pistol at Gretchen and her husband. "Where _was_ I?"

"The police just interrogated me!" Gretchen exclaimed. "They'll know I am missing!"

"News flash: they don't know who would've taken you or your husband! The goddamn stupid police aren't even closer to catching me and my pals than they are in protesting against the unhygienic qualities brought by doughnut shops! Sorry, Gretchen, Mr. Gretchen, but you've both gotta go..."

Steve couldn't take it anymore. He leaped off of the wall and prepared to attack Thaddeus.

* * *

**A/N:** Ooh, will Steve succeed? Whatever will happen next? And where's Perry?

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews, sorry):

**gamelover41592**

**14AmyChan**

**damonika2009**

**random guy (guest reviewer)**

**agent josie**

**Deborahpflover**

**TheNargana**

**iheartphinabella05**

**humanusscriptor**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**BlueLightningXD**

**tigerevans**

**Proxus**

**FanFicCriTicTheThird**

For those of you who don't know, there is a fanfiction contest being hosted by yours truly. For more information, check out the previous chapter! THANKS!

Well, hope you enjoyed this suspenseful chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	15. Science Fair, Part 2

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

As he wandered further into the fair, Perry heard Marie and Thomas's screams fill the air. Eyes widening, the agent ran as fast as he could towards the direction of the sounds, guided by the continued screaming and also some grunts and utterances of anger. After a few minutes of running, the platypus came across the fair theater, the very place where the fire that destroyed the fair started.

"STOP NOW!" an older male voice roared. "OR WE KILL THE CHILDREN!"

Perry's eyes widened again, and he sprinted over to the opposite end of the theater. Hiding behind a supporting column, he could see several people recovering from what appeared to be a brutal attack upon them, while a large, muscular man, identified as Thor was holding Marie and Thomas by their necks. Then, Perry saw Steve, who stood frozen as one of his opponents, a curly-haired man with a pointed nose and wearing glasses, whom Perry identified as Thaddeus, grabbed him and picked him up, holding him in a tight grip. A woman that Perry identified as Gretchen seemed to take advantage of Thaddeus's distraction and escape with another man.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the disgraced inventor asked, his lips curving into a sinister smile. "A chameleon wearing a fedora? Well, I thought I've seen it all." He glanced at the direction where Gretchen and the other man were standing at previously, only to see that they weren't there. "Huh. They've escaped. What a pity. Well, it doesn't matter, for our plan will commence in due time. As for the chameleon-"

"_Steve_?" Thomas asked in disbelief, the realization of his attempted savior's identity sinking into him uncomfortably.

The chameleon cast a glance at his owner with an emotion that Perry recognized all too well: it was the same emotion he wore when Phineas and Ferb first found out his secret identity during the day of the 2nd Dimension. It was an emotion of sorrow over having hidden a big secret from Thomas, a secret that explained the many times he had mysteriously disappeared every day.

"This is _your_ chameleon, Thomas?" Thaddeus asked. His smile widened menacingly. "Well then, at least I have someone to eliminate tonight..."

Suddenly, he threw Steve to the ground roughly and raised his foot over the chameleon's head, preparing to crush it.

* * *

Phineas landed his hovermobile in front of the abandoned parking lot of the old Danville Science Fair, and he was quickly followed by a couple dozen police cruisers and a couple of SWAT hover-vans. Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Vanessa emerged from their hovermobile and examined the dilapidated fairgrounds.

"This is it," Phineas said. "The old Danville Science Fair."

"PHINEAS!" a voice cried. The two couples watched as Gretchen and her husband ran out of the fairgrounds as fast as they could.

"_Gretchen_?" asked Isabella. "What're you doing here?!"

"Marie and Thomas are in there, Izzie!" Gretchen exclaimed. "Thaddeus and Thor are holding them captive just outside the old fair theater, and they have men!"

"All right, men!" Lieutenant Kestler ordered as he stepped out of his own vehicle. "It looks like we're dealing with multiple perps! Gather around! Okay, here's the plan: we split SWAT into three teams. One team will-"

"No," interrupted Phineas, raising a hand to silence the police lieutenant. "Ferb and I both must go in there alone. Thaddeus and Thor's quarrel is with us only. If they see anyone else, who knows what they'll do to Marie and Thomas? No, we're going in there alone."

"No, Phineas!" Isabella exclaimed. "What if they kill you two?"

"If it means saving our daughter and our nephew, then I'm willing to take that risk."

"Me too," added Ferb.

"You're NOT going in there alone, Mr. Flynn!" Kestler barked. "What if they kill Marie and Thomas first before going on to you?"

"That's what they'll do if they see police. Lieutenant, please trust me and Ferb to take care of everything. The madness must end here, once and for all. _Please_."

Kestler pondered over the thought for a moment, then sighed and replied sternly, "All right. Here's the deal, I'm gonna give you two one hour. ONE HOUR! Then we're coming in to take care of the rest. I...I hope you get your children to safety."

"Thank you," Ferb said. "Phineas, let's go in."

"Wait, Ferb!" Vanessa cried. She grabbed her husband and kissed him. "When you get the chance, tell Thomas then I am sorry for not recognizing his feelings in the first place. And...oh, Ferb, I love you!"

"I love you too."

"You be careful, honey," Isabella added, addressing Phineas and kissing him as well. "I love you."

"I love you too, Isabella." Phineas looked at Ferb and chuckled, the tragic irony sinking in as he stated, "Ferb, I know what we're gonna do tonight!"

* * *

Perry instantly sprung into action, jumping onto Thaddeus's face and punching it as hard as he could. Steve took the opportunity to attack Thor, causing the larger man to release Marie and Thomas in his distraction. Subduing Thaddeus with a hard punch to the nose, Perry hopped off of him, while Steve hopped off of Thor, both agents signaled the two nine-year-olds to follow them.

"_Perry_?" asked Marie in shock.

"Marie, Perry and Steve want us to follow them!" Thomas exclaimed.

"Stop them!" Mandy ordered as five of her six companions charged after the four.

Perry and Steve took Marie and Thomas's hands, respectively, and took them along as the two agents ran across the fairgrounds. Ducking into the charred remains of a tent, Steve observed the unfolding scenery through a hole in the tent's fabric; the five men had stopped in their tracks and were looking around, unable to see the escapees in the pitch-black darkness. The silhouettes of Thaddeus, Thor, Mandy, and the ninth man approached them.

"Did you get them?!" Thaddeus demanded.

"No," one of the men replied, kicking the ground in a burst of anger. "Stupid darkness, we can't see shit!"

"GODDAMN IT!" Thaddeus walked over towards the man who spoke, his voice practically shooting off white-hot flames as he spoke. "Carson, we didn't pay you a small fortune to lose _a couple of nine-year-olds_! Those two were VERY essential to our master scheme!" Just then, the silent atmosphere was broken by the wailing of loud police sirens, and the group, along with Marie, Thomas, Perry, and Steve saw a squadron of police, watched as the sky was occupied by numerous police cruisers, led by a hovermobile Marie recognized as belonging to her parents'.

"IT'S THEM!" Marie cried. "THEY'RE HERE!"

Unfortunately, Thor flicked his head at the tent the two children and the two agents were hiding inside.

"Uh, Marie?" Thomas asked. "You said that a _little_ too loud..."

"Marie, Thomas!" called Thaddeus. "Come out, come out, _wherever_ you are!"

Perry chattered at Marie and Thomas in the tone of a whisper to catch their attention. He pointed at them, then at the opposite direction. He then pointed at himself and Steve, then at Thaddeus, Thor, Mandy, and their companions, all of whom were now advancing towards the tent.

"You want us to run while you two hold them off?" Thomas theorized. Perry responded with a quick nod.

"Oh, Perry and Steve!" Marie whispered. "How can we ever _thank_ you? I mean, I never expected _you_ guys to come help me and Tommy, let alone be able to stand on your hind legs and wear fedora get-ups... What's up with that, anyway?"

Perry shrugged and gave Marie a 'Really?' look, prompting her to nod and run alongside with Thomas, but not before the two gave them a wave of good luck.

Upon leaving the tent, Marie and Thomas both heard Mandy shout, "There they are!"

"Mandy, Thor, you come with me!" Thaddeus ordered. "We're going after the kids! They CANNOT escape! Joey, you parked the truck at a safe location, right?"

"Yes, Thaddeus," replied a reluctant voice that Marie seemed to recognize, but her adrenaline made her unable to deduce who the speaker was.

"Alright. Meet us at the rendezvous point! Carson, you and the others find that platypus and that chameleon, and _kill them_! I didn't see them with Marie and Thomas, so they must be still somewhere in that tent, planning to attack- **YARGH**!"

Marie and Thomas heard pained shouts and grunts and assumed that Perry and Steve had gone through with their promise to resume their attack upon them in order to give them time to escape. Not bothering to look back to see if their pets were successful, they continued to run across the fairgrounds, finding both comfort and fear in the fact that the darkness had them in its grasp.

After several minutes of running, Marie suddenly felt something embedded in the ground catch her foot, and she fell to the ground, unfortunately biting her lip hard the moment her chin hit the dirt. Thomas also fell to the ground as a result, and he felt his head hit something. The trauma he suffered wasn't severe, fortunately, but it left him dizzy, disoriented, and his eyesight blurry, if he could see much in the darkness, that is. He could hear Marie crying...

He tried to stand up, but the dizziness overwhelmed him, and Thomas fell to the ground again. So, he started crawling over to the moving silhouette of a body. As he neared it, he could see the bow on the figure's head.

"Marie?" Thomas asked. "Are you okay?"

"I bit my lip..." moaned Marie, her voice a bit muffled. "..._Hard_... And for some reason...my foot _really_ hurts..."

Thomas couldn't take it anymore. Marie's arm, Marie's lip, Marie's foot...if this kept up any longer, she would get killed!

He continued to crawl over towards her despite the disorientation and replied, "It's okay, Marie...we're gonna get outta here...we're close...just take my hand...and we'll be outta this fair...and we can go back to building robots...that'll explode eventually..." Thomas chuckled at the last remark as he stretched out his hand towards his step-cousin. "Come on, Marie...it's gonna be _okay_...don't lose hope now...we're _almost _home- **AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!**"

Someone had stepped onto Thomas's outstretched hand hard, and was now grinding into the ground with all of the force he or she could muster.

"I wouldn't say that just yet..." Thaddeus's voice resonated into the air.

The pain, the dizziness, the disorientation...it was all too much for Thomas... He could feel himself lose his eyesight...

He could see Marie's form still, and from the corners of his subconscious, he instinctively moaned out, "Marie...Marie...I-I...I...l-love..."

But he couldn't complete the sentence, for the darkness that was all around him had now consumed his eyesight like a black hole with a shining star...

* * *

"Marie...Marie...I-I...I...l-love..."

That was the last thing Thomas said to Marie for the time being before he blacked out.

"_Tommy_..." moaned Marie, also feeling the pain overwhelm her senses as well. Suddenly, a hand clutched her hair and used it to lift her head up the ground, adding to her pain. Her screams of agony filled the air, but Thaddeus ignored them as he positioned her face close to his, so that their noses could touch.

"I'm sorry, Thaddeus isn't available right now," he said, sneering. "Can I relay a message for you?"

Marie couldn't respond; instead, she fainted from the pain as well. Thaddeus just frowned with disappointment.

"Bah, how boring." He dropped Marie's head and turned to Thor and Mandy, who were standing over their unconscious bodies. "Thor, you carry 'em to the truck. We have to get outta here; the police responded quicker than I anticipated!"

"What about Carson and the others, Thaddeus?" Mandy asked.

"Leave them. They'll be the ones to give Phineas and Ferb the message of our location." Thaddeus then burst out into a maniacal cackle. "Phineas and Ferb, prepare to get _ousted_! Danville, the Tri-State Area...the _world_ is about to experience the genius of two new inventors on the block!"

* * *

Phineas and Ferb cautiously wandered into the fairgrounds, just as Thomas's scream erupted into the air like a volcano.

"THOMAS!" Ferb screamed, running towards the direction he assumed was where the scream originated, while Phineas followed behind. Just about a minute later, the air was filled again with a pained scream, this time belonging to...

"MARIE!" screeched Phineas as he took the lead.

Pretty soon, the two reached the location they intended to arrive at: the fair theater. They instantly saw a pile of defeated forms that was lying next to a supporting column, surrounded by two small figures, way too small to be children. As they ran over to the pile, the two figures noticed them and retreated into the bushes.

"HEY!" Phineas shouted. "YOU COME BACK HERE!"

"Wait a minute, Phineas!" Ferb cried, running up to the bodies and pulling one of them out. "Is that..._Detective Carson_?!"

"WHAT?!" Phineas ran up to Ferb and Carson and knelt down to look at the latter. "You're supposed to be DEAD!"

The detective looked up at Phineas and let out a short chuckle. "That's what you _thought_, Flynn! The guns Garrett Fort and Svend Flagstad were equipped with, they were inventions by Thaddeus and Thor, my employers! It had a selective-fire addition that allowed it to shoot lasers that just knock people out and make it resemble deaths. But poor lil' Marie and Thomas don't know that! They saw the whole thing..." He chuckled sadistically again.

Phineas growled and grabbed the collar of Carson's shirt. "Where are our _children_?!" he demanded.

"Sorry, Flynn, but they're long gone. My boss _did_ tell me to relay this message to you two: something big's gonna go down at sunrise."

"What?" Ferb asked. "What's gonna happen at sunrise?! Are they gonna kill our children at that time?"

Carson laughed again. "WHAT?! Oh, no. No, no, NO! Thaddeus and Thor have bigger plans for _them_. What they are, I am not allowed to go into details, but I CAN tell you that it involves a whole lot of accusations from them, directed at YOU TWO! **AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**!"_  
_

The police detective was reduced to maniacal laughter, and Phineas threw him down to the ground in disgust. He turned to Ferb and said, "Call Vanessa. Tell her that it's clear, but Marie and Thomas aren't here, and neither are Thaddeus and Thor."

"But why aren't they here?" Ferb asked. "I thought that video they sent us instructed us to come here!"

Phineas looked up at the sky longingly and replied, "It was a dead end. ...And we fell for it. The bigger question is, where _are_ they right now?"

* * *

**A/N:** So, where exactly are Thaddeus and Thor going? What IS their plan, exactly? And can Phineas and Ferb stop them in time? Oh, so many questions!

I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:

**14AmyChan:** Well, that must be some loud screaming, then! It might explain the disturbance in bird-flight patterns I've been seeing recently. XD

**Deborahpflover:** Indeed, Thaddeus has gone off the DEEP END...

**fan-like-irving:** It's okay. Feel free to let out the anger whenever you want, even if it has to be in the form of a review! :D

**humanusscriptor**

**Proxus (guest reviewer):** Indeed, he couldn't succeed without Perry's aid. And I don't think I know of such a story, sorry.

**agent josie**

Well, hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	16. One Step Closer

**A/N:** Hm, what's up with the recent reduction of reviews lately? *shrugs* Ah, well. Let's get on with the chapter! ENJOY!

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

The old Danville Science Fair was now overrun by numerous police officers, who were searching the charred tents for any sign of Marie, Thomas, Thaddeus, or Thor, but so far, no positive results had been turned up in the frantic search. As for Detective Carson and the four other accomplices who were apprehended, none of them have submitted to the officers' interrogation techniques. Gretchen and her husband were also subjected to interrogation.

Beside the Flynn hovermobile, Isabella clutched Phineas's hand tightly. "My little girl..." she said, struggling to hold back tears. "My little _girl_..."

"It's okay, Isabella," Phineas replied, embracing his wife in a tight hug. "We'll get our Marie back, I swear on my _life_ on that."

Just then, someone nearby cleared his throat. The couple realized that it was Lieutenant Kestler.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" asked Phineas. "Did you find something?"

"Sorta," the lieutenant replied. "Your friend Gretchen has agreed to divulge the details about her exact involvement with the kidnappers Thaddeus and Thor, but only if she tell it to you and the Fletchers personally. She's over at the ambulance over there." He pointed at an ambulance located just a couple of yards away in the parking lot, where Gretchen was watching over her husband as medics worked on the injuries that were decorating his body.

Phineas and Isabella looked at each other. _Involvement_? Gretchen was _involved_ in the kidnappings of their own children? They looked at Ferb and Vanessa, who were just nearby, and they looked back with similar expressions of shock and confusion.

The two couples then walked over towards the ambulance, where Gretchen noticed them.

"Hey, guys," she greeted sadly.

"Gretchen, Lieutenant Kestler is telling us that you know something about the kidnapping of my Marie," Isabella said, biting her lip. "Is that _true_?"

Gretchen sighed and nodded reluctantly. A split-second later, Isabella flew into a sudden fit of rage, grabbing her friend's shirt and slamming her onto the ambulance.

"WHERE IS SHE, GRETCHEN?!" she screamed as Phineas and Ferb tried to restrain her. "WHERE IS MY LITTLE **GIRL**?!"

"I'm so _sorry_, Izzie!" Gretchen replied fearfully. "They gave me no choice! I HAD to help them!"

"WHY?! WHY'D YOU **HELP** THEM TAKE MY MARIE?!"

"Because they took my husband and threatened to kill him and my children if I didn't cooperate!"

Upon hearing Gretchen's response, Isabella's emotions softened, and she slowly released her. "What?" she asked.

"They took him." Gretchen looked at her husband as medics continued to work on him. "They called me at my home and said that they had my husband, and that they were watching me and my children. They instructed me to go to the New Googolplex Mall at a specific time, find you, and tell you that I didn't make some sort of call to you. And then...they said that if I didn't do so, they'd..._kill_ him. And they said...snipers were watching my children at their schools and that they'd also take the shots if they were given the orders to do so..."

She sniffled as she struggled to hold back tears before continuing. "I'm sorry, Izzie. My family was gonna die, and I _had_ to do something. I had _no choice_. But...but my children and husband are now safe, and Marie and Thomas aren't... Oh, I am SO sorry!"

Gretchen burst into tears, and Isabella, now struck with pity, hugged her friend with comfort.

"It's okay, Gretch," she said. "It's okay. I forgive you. You were just protecting _your_ family..."

Gretchen sniffled and broke the hug. "And before you ask, I don't know anything about where those guys might've taken Marie and Thomas. Not that I know of."

"Thanks for the info, Gretch."

"Uh, mind if I interrupt again?" Lieutenant Kestler had approached the five and was pointing at the fair entrance, where police officers were carrying out large piles of something that was unidentified. "Officers found photos, magazine covers, and newspaper clippings in a room and are carrying them out."

"Really?" Phineas turned to Ferb. "Let's have a look, Ferb. Maybe there might be an important clue-"

"Absolutely NOT," interrupted Kestler. "Mr. Flynn, Mr. Fletcher, I think you've done enough. Let the police take it from here-"

Now, it was Phineas's turn to interrupt. "No. With all due respect, Lieutenant, I believe that Thaddeus and Thor left those materials for a reason. It has been all about revenge against me and my brother. If it's been all about us this entire time, then they're intentionally leaving behind a trail of bread crumbs for us. Please, Lieutenant, we _have_ to see those photos. _Please_."

Kestler sighed and gestured towards the photos that were currently being piled up next to a van, replying, "Be my guest."

* * *

Marie's eyes opened, and she found herself sitting in a large room, restrained by bonds that had her tied to the chair she was sitting on. The only thing present in the room besides them was a gargantuan, draped object. Just then, she also noticed a certain hulking man surveying her every movement. However, Marie didn't bother to protest anymore. She was just unable to find anymore hope in trying to be defiant against the bad guys...

"M-Marie?" a voice asked. Marie instantly realized that Thomas was just behind her.

"Thomas?" Marie replied. "Oh, thank _platypus_ you're okay!"

Suddenly, Thomas screamed out in pain. "Ow, ow, OW! My _hand_... It HURTS!"

"Be careful, Tommy, you're hurt!"

Thomas started taking deep breaths, and after a few minutes, he seemed to calm down as he asked, "Where are we now, Marie?"

"I don't know, but that Thor's watching us."

She immediately felt Thomas struggle against his bonds. "Hey, let us go NOW!" he shouted.

"Just forget it, Tommy," said Marie sadly. "It's hopeless. We just _can't_ escape..."

"Don't say that, Marie! Don't _say that_! We CAN escape! We've GOTTA!"

"Silence."

Marie and Thomas stood rigid and looked at Thor, from whom they haven't heard from previously. This was the first time he actually addressed them, and his voice was deep and gravelly, as if he hadn't used it in a really long time, an attribute that wasn't quite surprisingly.

"So you can talk, huh?" Thomas asked. "Let us go!"

However, Thor didn't respond; instead, he continued to stare at the two children with an expressionless face. It was silent in the warehouse, save for the chirping of a cricket in the distance. Marie and Thomas watched as Thor made some minor shuffling movements, but otherwise stood still in his position.

Finally, Thomas asked, this time more gently, "Can't you at least _talk_ to us?"

Thor didn't respond.

"Please, you don't have to do this. Please let me and my cousin go!"

Again, Thor didn't respond.

"Don't you ever get tired of your brother telling you what to do?"

...

"We don't hear of your opinion. Don't _you_ have an opinion in all of this?"

...

"Did you ever _want_ to seek revenge against our dads, like your brother? Or did your brother just talk you into all of this?"

...

Knowing that he couldn't reach Thor, Thomas sighed and fell silent again.

"It's _our_ revenge," Thor said suddenly. "Not _his_."

"Is it?"

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening resonated through the warehouse, followed by Thaddeus and Mandy's voices.

"Are you sure we should still do this, bro?" asked Mandy. "The cops are closing in on us..."

"Trust me, Mandy," Thaddeus replied, "we are _still_ one step ahead of them all. Our master plan will commence just as planned. Have a little _faith_, big sis. Anyway, onto the plan, has Joey made the final preparations at P&F Industries?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." Thaddeus chuckled maliciously. "See, sis? Everything's going as _planned_. All we gotta do now is lay low and wait till sunrise. Joey will teleport us to the P&F Industries headquarters, and we'll activate the Millennium Energy Device. The rest will be history! Victory is _inevitable_!"

"I doubt it!" shouted Thomas.

The two children heard Thaddeus sigh, and then, they heard his booming footsteps as he walked up to them.

"I am _really_ getting TIRED of your protests, Thomas..." Thaddeus snapped. Marie then heard a loud smacking noise and Thomas crying out in pain. "You're lucky I am keeping alive for this crap, otherwise you'd be dead by my hand _hours ago_. So SHUT UP!"

"Make me."

"THAT'S IT! IT'S TIME OUT FOR **YOU**!" Marie heard another, more louder smacking noise, and she could feel Thomas's body go limp. "LITERALLY!"

Marie sniffled and looked up at her captors fearfully. Thaddeus looked at her and smiled, stretching a hand out and stroking her red hair.

"It's okay, Marie," he said. "Everything's gonna be over soon. And once it is, you'll find that I am a better dad than that Phineas will EVER be. Don't you agree?"

Fearing what Thaddeus would be if she refused, Marie nodded. The man chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"That's my girl..."

* * *

Neither Phineas nor Ferb would've ever expected the revelation that someone had been watching their lives for many years. Of course, there was Irving Du Bois, but at least he had good intentions and was considered a good friend of theirs. Thaddeus and Thor didn't fulfill either of the aforementioned requirements.

The photos, clippings, and magazine covers started from when they were fifteen years old, a time where their brilliant inventions had been recognized by areas that extended beyond that of the Tri-State Area. Afterwards, the materials went on to cover their lives till the present day. The photos came to include their family lives as well, portraying Marie and Thomas through the years. It was obvious Thaddeus and Thor have been watching their every move without their knowledge.

"There's one thing I know," Ferb commented. "These guys are WAY worse than Irving."

"Officially," replied Phineas. "Have you found anything useful?"

"Not really. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to these photos, magazine covers, or clippings. Not at all."

Phineas sighed and faced his stepbrother. "Okay, Marie and Thomas haven't been found at the fair, so they HAVE to be still alive. What would Thaddeus and Thor do?"

"Well, we disgraced them after we stopped their invention from self-destructing. Knowing those two, they're quite arrogant and selfish. They're gonna want to make it even with us. And they are probably gonna do that by..."

Ferb began brooding on possibilities, as did Phineas. Soon, Phineas snapped his fingers.

"Inventing," he said. "That's their area of expertise. They're gonna want to make something that's better than our inventions."

"But they've failed at that, if you don't count that energy machine they made for the fair..."

Phineas and Ferb both looked at each other with surprise, the same answer clicking onto their minds simultaneously.

"THE ENERGY MACHINE!" they both screamed.

* * *

"Well, Marie," Thaddeus said, kneeling before the nine-year-old girl, "I think that if I am to be a better father than Phineas, I have to be honest with you. You must be wondering what our master plan is, is that correct?"

Marie nodded fearfully, to which Thaddeus smiled and snapped his fingers at Thor.

"Remove the drape!" he ordered.

Thor nodded, stood up, and approached the large draped object. Clutching the drape, he tried pulling it off, but the drape only moved a few inches, the object it was obscuring being too large for one person to remove the drape. Thaddeus sighed furiously, stood up, approached Thor, and suddenly punched him in the face.

"You IDIOT!" snapped Thaddeus. "Remember the SYSTEM for removing that thing?!"

Thor just shook his head; Thaddeus growled angrily, pushed his stepbrother away, and clutched the drape. Gradually and carefully, he peeled it off of the object, which Marie identified as the same object that she saw in the security video Thaddeus kept showing her and Thomas, the one that her father and Uncle Ferb were tinkering with before it inadvertently caused the fire that brought down the old Danville Science Fair.

Once the drape was entirely removed, Thaddeus stood before the towering machine and stretched out his arms dramatically.

"BEHOLD, THE MILLENNIUM ENERGY DEVICE!"

* * *

**A/N:** Another piece of Thaddeus and Thor's master scheme is exposed! Unfortunately, know that they are unaware of the true motivations behind Phineas and Ferb's intervention, so it looks like innocent people are in danger!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews right now, sorry):

**gamelover41592**

**14AmyChan**

**Deborahpflover**

**fan-like-irving**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**Proxus**

**agent josie**

**tigerevans**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	17. Fame, Part 1

**A/N:** And I'm back! Again. ENJOY!

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.  
-Antonio de la Torre Saavedra DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.

* * *

Detective Easton watched as her partner, Carson, was hauled into a police cruiser and taken away as he cackled maniacally. She couldn't believe that her partner had gone against all of the moral code the police department had taught them and allied himself with criminals, let alone take a coward's path by faking his own death. The detective remembered all of the times the two of them had taken down criminals of all sorts and nearly put their lives on the line more than once, only for one to cover for the other. But Easton knew that she should've seen it coming. Recently, Carson had been subjected to investigation by Internal Affairs due to several confirmations that he had been taking bribes from criminals.

"Easton!"

Easton turned around and saw her superior, Lieutenant Kestler, stride up to her, a file in his hand. "Yes, Lieutenant?" she asked.

Kestler handed her the file and replied, "Mandy Fort, Thaddeus Fort's older sister."

The detective opened the file and saw that it contained sheets of police information about Mandy, as well as a photo of her.

"Mandy was the only person who believed that the fire that devastated the fair wasn't Thaddeus and Thor's doing," continued Kestler. "She was the only one in the city who stood up for her brothers, and she had been arrested a few times for stalking Flynn-Fletcher family members following Thaddeus and Thor's disappearances. Franks and Walker went over to her apartment to interrogate her, but she wasn't there, and her roommates told them she had been acting strangely ever since a day preceding the abductions." Kestler then pointed to a section of the file that described Mandy's job. "And guess where she works at."

Easton sighed as she put two and two together in an instant. "The same electronics store where Antonio de la Torre Saavedra worked at."

"This gives her access to voice-changing equipment."

Easton faced Kestler. "I saw her there, boss. Antonio grabbed her and shoved her towards us for a distraction while he tried to escape."

"Obviously playing innocent bystander in order to place suspicion off of her." Kestler showed Mandy's photo to Easton. "But she has motivation to help her brothers. I believe we have to find her and question her."

"But she wasn't in the apartment. Where else would she go?"

* * *

"Thanks for the warehouse, sis," Thaddeus said, stepping away from the Millennium Energy Device and towards Mandy. "Your workplace has proven very useful to us in more ways than one. Our device fits perfectly in the warehouse."

"Anything for you, little brother," replied Mandy. She then clenched her fist with anger and raised it. "I just _know_ that those accursed Flynn-Fletcher people are behind that fair fire. But on sunrise, they will be BUSTED FOR SURE!"

"Busted they will be, Mandy. And our brilliant invention will be the key for me and Thor's return to society! Isn't that _right_, Thor?"

Thor responded with a thumbs-up.

Just then, Marie sniffled. Thaddeus flicked his head towards her.

"Marie, dear, whatever is the _matter_?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing," Marie replied quickly.

"Come on, you can tell me! ...I won't get mad again."

"You will, I know it."

Thaddeus sighed and put a hand on his forehead in frustration. Just then, his eyes widened, and a sinister smile formed upon his lips. He stepped up to Marie, knelt down, and put a finger under Marie's chin, lifting her face up so she can look into his brown eyes. The malicious quality of his smile disappeared and replaced itself with a quality of gentle kindness, something that reminded Marie of her father's smile.

"There's no need to be afraid of me. Not anymore, at least. Here, here, let me untie you..."

Thaddeus gently took the bonds off of the nine-year-old girl. She instantly saw an opportunity and tried to run for her life, but the pain from her broken arm and foot shot through her body, and she fell to the floor, weeping.

"Oh, yeah, that's right, broken arm..." Thaddeus muttered to himself. "Um, uh, Mandy? You got those supplies the medics gave you?"

"Yeah."

"Get me a couple of casts. Thor, help me out over here."

Within just a few minutes, Thaddeus, Thor, and Mandy had given Marie casts for her arm and foot, and also attended to her bitten lip. For a finishing touch, Mandy also supplied a crutch to support Marie as she walked.

"There you go!" Thaddeus exclaimed as he helped Marie to her feet. "Feeling better?"

"I...I _guess_..." replied Marie. She glanced at Thomas, who was still unconscious and tied to a chair. "Help Thomas. I think he has a broken hand-"

"Sorry, that was all of the supplies we had, kid," interrupted Mandy.

Thaddeus leaned down towards Marie and smiled. "See, Marie? I can be fatherly towards you if I want to."

"Why do you keep calling yourself my dad?" Marie asked quietly.

"Why? _Why_? Well, you see, I've been watching you your whole life, Marie, and from my experience, you seem very, what was it..._limited_ by Phineas."

"Limited? My dad doesn't limit me."

Thaddeus scoffed. "Say that to your inventions."

"What about my inventions?"

"Why do you think they always explode, Marie?!"

"I-I'm not sure! I always conveniently use explosives as part of a construction material."

"And why is that? Why not just take explosives out of the equation?"

"W-Well, I...I-I...I n-never...I'd..." Marie fell silent for a moment. "I never really _thought_ of that earlier..."

"And I think I know why you keep using explosives, Marie," Thaddeus continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "You WANTED your inventions to explode."

"Why would I want my own inventions to explode?"

There was a strange glint in Thaddeus's eyes as he replied, "You're afraid of surpassing him."

"Who?"

"Your dad, of course."

"What?! What makes you think THAT?!"

"You love him very much. In fact, you love him _so much_, that you're afraid that if you create an invention that people will DIE to use, then you'd think you have officially become better than your dad, and you feel that he doesn't deserve that, not one bit! After all, he's been the greatest inventor to your eyes. How much of a so-called 'greatest inventor' would he be if you became better than him? So, you put explosives into your inventions, so then they can detonate once they become too good for your qualifications! That's why you let your inventions explode! You're afraid of becoming better than _your own father_!"

"You're WRONG!" Marie screamed. "My daddy tells me that I'm gonna be the greatest inventor the world has ever seen, no matter what comes in the way! It doesn't matter if I become better than him! He will understand that it's for the best!"

"Well then, Marie, can you explain to me why there hasn't been a news story about you, specifically one that focuses on an accomplishment YOU have done?"

Marie opened her mouth to respond, but her voice was suddenly absent. She closed her mouth, realizing that Thaddeus was right. Every time she was mentioned in the news, it was just because she was the daughter of the famous Phineas Flynn, renowned inventor and genius, whose name is known to everyone in the world. Not once has there been something in the news that details one of her own successes. To everyone, she was just the daughter of Phineas Flynn...

And if she didn't like it, wouldn't she have done something about it already?

Realizing that he had gotten to Marie, Thaddeus smiled and said, "But of course, your dad tells you that will be the greatest inventor the world has ever seen, Marie. Don't you think it's time the world knew your name? Don't you think...it's time to prove your dad right?"

He gestured towards the Millennium Energy Device, which Marie looked up at. A memory came to her mind, one of when she was a young toddler, and her father was towering above her, always the greatest person she had ever seen. Then, she remembered what Phineas once told her, when she was younger.

_"Marie, you'll be the world's greatest inventor, and everyone will know your name...and I'll be _very_ proud of you."_

Just then, Thaddeus's watch started beeping.

"Joey should be opening the portal any second now..." Mandy said.

"Which comes back to our first argument, why I always refer to myself as your rightful dad," he said.

He stood up and walked a few feet away from her, towards the Millennium Energy Device. A large, bluish-green vortex suddenly opened up behind the machine, and Thor and Mandy, the latter of which was also dragging an unconscious Thomas along, joined his side.

"Phineas always seemed to be holding you back, and always will be, whether or not he knows about it," he continued over the roar of the vortex. "But me, at least I will allow you to become better than me." He placed a hand on the surface of the machine, as did Thor and Mandy; Thaddeus then stretched out his other hand. "Don't be afraid, Marie. All you have to do...is come to me, and the world will know your name."

Marie looked into Thaddeus's eyes, then at a random direction towards Mandy's feet. Then, she remembered Phineas's encouraging statement.

The Flynn walked towards Thaddeus and took his head.

A second later, they all disappeared.

* * *

At the old Danville Science Fair, the sun was beginning to rise above the Danville mountains, bathing the high-tech city in its warm light. Isabella looked at Phineas's eyes with concern as the sunlight began to show them in full detail.

"Phineas, you haven't slept at all!" she said. "There's bags under your eyes..."

"I mustn't sleep!" Phineas exclaimed. He then suddenly yawned before continuing, "I will NOT sleep until we find Marie and bring her back home-"

"Mr. Flynn, Mr. Fletcher!" It was Lieutenant Kestler, and he was running up to them, a panicked look on his face.

"What?!" Ferb asked as Vanessa clutched his arm. "Did you find Thomas and Marie? PLEASE tell me you found them!"

"Well...sorta..." Kestler replied as a gust of wind suddenly started picking up. "The department is getting 911 calls reporting some sort of disturbance occurring at the P&F Industries penthouse." He then pointed off at a certain direction. "But I believe you can see it for yourselves."

Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, and Vanessa followed Kestler's finger, as well as the stares of the other officers, and gasped upon seeing what was happening.

* * *

"Dad, Mom, are you SEEING this?!" Jazz cried, pointing out of her bedroom window.

Baljeet and Mishti Rai walked into her room, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

"Oh, this had better be _good_, Jazz," Baljeet began, "'cause-" However, he and Mishti spotted what she was looking at. "Oh. My. God."

* * *

"Just _what_ are you guys doing?" Amanda demanded as she confronted her brothers Xavier and Fred, who were staring out of the window of the Fletcher house. Then, she spotted at what she was looking at, screamed, and ran into the kitchen, yelling repeatedly, "MOM! MOM! MOM!"

"I'm staring at that strange sight," Xavier replied.

"I'm staring at that strange sight next to him," added Fred.

* * *

Perry and Steve watched in shock from Perry's hover-car as they neared P&F Industries.

"My _platypus_..." chattered Perry.

* * *

Everyone nearby gathered around the base of P&F Industries as they watched the abnormality that was occurring before them. In fact, each and every pair of eyes in Danville was now watching the P&F Industries headquarters.

A beam of bluish-green energy was shooting up from the penthouse and into the sky as the Millennium Energy Device gradually materialized on the large balcony.

* * *

**A/N:** Thaddeus and Thor are putting their scheme in motion, and it looks like Marie might've joined them! OH, NO! What's gonna happen next?! As the writer, I am the only one who knows, and I. AIN'T. TELLING! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:

**gamelover41592:** You'll find out in the next chapter.

**damonika2009**

**BlytheHasFreckles:** Actually, I have something different in mind, and it looks like you were right on what Thaddeus and Thor plan to do with their energy device. And unfortunately, Marie has possibly joined the two! You'll see about Thor's future; I bet you, it'll be interesting! Actually, Thaddeus's motivations, as you have seen so far, aren't actually delusional, but I guess you can still call it that, considering what he's done to the children.

**humanusscriptor**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer):** Why, thanks!

**iheartphinabella05:** Why, it's okay. And I've read that story. Indeed I always make my villains ALL-OUT evil! I think it's becoming contagious...

**random guy (guest reviewer):** Yeah, I agree. This story's becoming so un-Marie-and-Thomas-ish.

**FanFicCriTicTheThird**

**14AmyChan:** Well, you kinda know now.

Well, hope you enjoyed this shocking chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	18. Recognition, Part 2

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

As the Millennium Energy Device continued to slowly materialize on the large balcony of P&F Industries, Marie, the unconscious Thomas, Thaddeus, Thor, and Mandy all appeared beside the machine. Thaddeus opened his eyes and smirked triumphantly.

"Excellent," he said. "You did _exactly_ what I instructed you to do. You did well, Joey."

Marie looked above her shoulder and saw her father's assistant Joey Sanders, whom she was familiar with, walk away from a strange device that seemed to be turned on and toward Thaddeus. His face was expressing a clear emotion of guilt and reluctance, and there was something about the way he rubbed his hands together in a rather nervous fashion that made the nine-year-old think that he might have been talked into complying with the villainous brothers. But she didn't bother to speak up about it. Instead, she stared, flabbergasted at the sight of _another_ good family friend helping Thaddeus.

"I did what you told me to do," Joey said. "Now give me my money."

"Not yet, Joey; we're halfway through. The last thing I need you to do is to assist me in broadcasting my-" He then noticed Thor still standing beside him and changed his sentence. "-I mean, _our_ message of reemergence to the Tri-State Area! I believe P&F Industries has built a prototype that'll fulfill that purpose..."

Joey meekly nodded and ran out of the office. Thaddeus and Thor then looked at the still-materializing Millennium Energy Device, which was just about three-fourths through with the teleportation process, while Mandy set Thomas's unconscious body beside Marie; Marie knelt down and started shaking him with her uninjured arm.

"Tommy, Tommy!" she whispered. "Tommy, wake up! Wake up!"

Thomas's eyes fluttered open, and then, he gasped in surprise. "What, what?" he exclaimed. "Marie? Where are we now?"

"We're in my dad's company headquarters."

"What're we doing _here_?" As Thomas adjusted himself to his current surroundings, he soon saw Thaddeus, Thor, and Mandy all standing before the Millennium Energy Device, their backs on him. His eyes narrowed in contempt of the kidnappers. "YOU!"

Thaddeus, Thor, and Mandy turned around, and Thaddeus let out a small laugh.

"Hey, Thomas!" he exclaimed happily. "Good of you to _join_ us! We're just about to change the way of living in the Tri-State Area forever!"

Thomas growled with utmost fury. They had done enough to him and Marie, he kept thinking. It was time for their madness to end, once and for ALL!

He stood up with some difficulty due to his injured hand, and before Marie could stop him, Thomas charged towards Thaddeus, not caring the slightest if he was just a nine-year-old boy going against a full-grown male adult. Unfortunately, he didn't heed the odds against him, and Thomas paid the price the moment Thaddeus's hand collided hard with his face. Crying in pain, Thomas fell to the ground, a mark of bright red now on his cheek.

"TOMMY!" Marie screamed.

Thaddeus sighed disapprovingly and stepped beside Thomas as he tried to crawl away. "Your rebellious nature continues to _disappoint_ me, Thomas," he said, shaking his head. "*tsk tsk tsk* What am I gonna do with _you_? How come you can't submit as _easily_ as Marie did?..."

Thomas stopped and looked at Marie.

"Marie?..."

Marie looked down at the ground and replied, "I'm sorry, Tommy."

"No!" cried Thomas.

"Oh _yes_, Thomas," Thaddeus continued, looking at Marie and smiling at her. "Why don't you just follow your brighter, much more tactical cousin's path and accept the fact that a life with us will be much better than that old life you suffered, the one with your parents?"_  
_

"What makes you think I don't like my parents?!" Thomas demanded furiously.

Thaddeus smiled and took out a device from his pocket. Pressing a button, he deployed a small satellite from one end and pointed it at Thomas.

"Maybe _this'll_ answer your question."

Thaddeus pressed another button, and then, Thomas's voice emanated from the device.

_**"Every time I get mad at Marie, you and Dad get mad at me! It's not my fault; she keeps calling me names I don't like, I always get hurt by one of her stupid inventions, and it is always up to me to protect her and Jazz from explosions! I have my own feelings about this, you know! But you never seem to understand that, Mom! You and Dad! I feel so misunderstood!"**_

_**"But what happens when Marie's inventions explode? They do more damage than me and yet all she gets is a little 'Don't do that again, Marie'. I don't like it!"**_

_**"But **_**he**_** doesn't have to get angry about it! Uncle Phineas treats it like it's nothing, like a lot of other things! Same with you, Dad, Aunt Isabella, Aunt Candace, Uncle Jeremy... For once, can't an adult take MY SIDE of the argument! For once, at least? NO!"**_

Thomas's jaw dropped open upon hearing the very words he used to yell at his own mother. Knowing that his point had been made, Thaddeus put away the device and knelt down towards the boy, smiling a kind, warm smile.

"But you don't have to deal with all of those problems anymore, Thomas," he said. "Thor and I will treat you and your cousin equally. _Your_ side of the argument will not have to fall to deaf ears anymore. All you have to do..." Thaddeus stretched out his hand. "...is take my hand..._son_..."

Thomas looked from Thaddeus's hand, to Marie, to the Millennium Energy Device, then back. He then frowned and swatted the man's hand away.

"_Never_."

* * *

Continuing to watch the beam of energy shooting up into the sky, Phineas landed the Flynn hovermobile alongside a long sidewalk heading towards the P&F Industries headquarters complex. He, Ferb, Isabella, and Vanessa got out and started walking slowly towards the building, just as several police cruisers landed on the street.

"Alright everyone, step back!" Lieutenant Kestler ordered as he and several officers escorted the crowd of citizens away from the building. "This is an active scene and we can't afford any casualties! We're setting up a perimeter! Come on, people, let's move!" Kestler then approached Phineas. "Mr. Flynn, I think you should leave too-"

"No," interrupted Phineas, facing the lieutenant. "It's Thaddeus and Thor. They're calling me and Ferb to come up there."

"Well, whatever's happening up there, it's obviously dangerous, Mr. Flynn!"

"That's been the point, isn't it? Lieutenant, Ferb and I _have_ to go up there alone. The lives of our children depend on it."

Kestler looked up at the beam and stared at it for a couple of minutes. He then sighed, looked at Phineas, and nodded. "Alright. You two go get your children back. But we're coming in when something goes wrong!"

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Phineas then shook Kestler's hand. "You've helped us _so_ much, Lieutenant. How can we ever thank you?"

"Just get Marie and Thomas back, that's all I ask."

Phineas nodded. Then, he raised one of his eyebrows. "You really seem to be taking this case so seriously, Lieutenant. Why?"

"It's personal matters that I would rather not discuss, Mr. Flynn," Kestler responded quickly, but he smiled. "Now, go, go!"

Phineas nodded again and looked at Ferb. "Ferb, we're going in!" he announced.

Ferb nodded back, gave Vanessa a quick hug, and proceeded to walk through a barricade of officers and SWAT agents that had just been established. Phineas, in the meantime, also hugged Isabella, more longingly.

"Bring back our little girl, Phineas," Isabella whispered into her husband's ear.

"Don't worry, Isabella," replied Phineas. "This time, she's in my grasp." He broke the hug and stroked his wife's hair lovingly. "Just remember...the bow."

Isabella nodded, absentmindedly touching her bow while Phineas followed Ferb through the barricade and towards the main entrance into P&F Industries.

Joining his stepbrother's side, Phineas looked at him, and Ferb looked back. They nodded as they reached the front door. Opening it, the two inventors were greeted by a familiar sight: a squad of Brobots patrolling the floor. Their towering forms stopped, and the robots all simultaneously turned their heads at their original creators. At the corner of Phineas's eye, he spotted a security guard and a secretary tied up and gagged, sitting at the corner of a wall. He then spotted someone standing by a door, holding a remote control. Phineas quickly recognized this person.

"Joey?" he asked in shock.

Joey took a few steps forward towards the Brobots, remote still in hand.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Phineas," he said.

"_You're_ working for Thaddeus and Thor too?"

"I had to, Phineas! They were gonna pay me a lot of money! I need that money to pay for mother's hospital bills, I had no other choice! I'm really sorry about this!" He paused and operated on the remote; the Brobots parted, giving Phineas and Ferb full reach of an elevator. "Fortunately for you, Phineas, Ferb, I have direct orders to allow only the two of you to go up to the penthouse. Thaddeus and Thor are waiting there with Marie and Thomas."

Phineas and Ferb both looked at the army of Brobots warily, and then at Joey, who nodded at them approvingly. They knew it had to be some sort of trap, but their children's lives were at stake. They needed to be responsible for their safety.

"Thank you, Joey," Phineas said. "And...I understand what you did."

Joey nodded again, and Phineas and Ferb walked towards the elevator.

* * *

"_Never_?" repeated Thaddeus in incredulous shock. "What do you mean by 'never'?"

"I mean never," Thomas growled. "I don't know what in the world you've done to Marie, but it won't work on me! You're an evil person, and though I admit that my life has its shortcomings, I love my life, and I am _not_ willing to leave it behind! So I decline on your offer!" Thomas stood up boldly. "And I'm going home with Marie!"

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" Thaddeus screeched. Before Thomas could run, he was already punched in the stomach by the disgraced inventor's unrelenting fist. Yelling out in pain, feeling a slight taste of blood in his mouth, the boy fell to the ground again, clutching his stomach.

"TOMMY!" Marie screamed.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR REBELLIOUS ATTITUDE!" shrieked Thaddeus. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE IT ANYMORE! THOR, **KILL HIM**!"

Thor walked forward and grabbed Thomas's head, but before he could do anything else...

"WAIT!"

Thaddeus looked at Marie. "I beg your pardon?" he asked with a seething calmness.

"Please, don't kill him!" Marie protested. "Just...just let him go! But I'll stay here! I'll stay here with you..._Daddy_..."

Thaddeus raised an eyebrow and then looked at Thomas, who was struggling not to cry.

"_Please_, Daddy," continued Marie. "If you wanna be my dad, then there has to be a trust between us. I trust that you won't hurt anyone, _especially_ not Thomas. Can I trust you on that?" She clutched his hand, causing Thomas to cringe. "Can I?"

Thaddeus looked down at Marie's eyes as they dug into his soul (or whatever of it was left). He then smiled kindly and looked at Thor.

"Change of plans, Thor," he said. "Escort Thomas _out_."

Noticing the emphasis of his stepbrother's sentence, Thor identified Thaddeus's true meaning and nodded innocently. He then started lightly pushing Thomas away as the boy continued to look at Marie in shock and horror.

Unbeknownst to anyone but Thomas, Marie winked at him. Understanding Marie's message, he smiled and winked back.

* * *

Upon leaving the main office, Thor suddenly shoved Thomas to the ground and whipped out a laser-pistol. Realizing the large man's true intentions, the nine-year-old gasped and tried to scramble away, but Thor was faster, sidestepping the boy and aiming the barrel of his futuristic weapon at his forehead. Looking up at it, Thomas could see his entire life flash before his eyes in split-second-long frames...

And many of the images involved a smiling, cheerful Marie. The very girl he had been harboring a crush on the entire time without ever knowing it. And now, he wasn't _ever_ gonna tell her exactly how he felt about her...

Thomas closed his eyes, bracing himself for death. As he did, another thought crossed his mind: he never apologized to his mother for yelling at her. Twice the agony...

But minutes had passed and nothing happened. Thomas opened his eyes and saw that Thor had lowered his weapon, the hulking, muscular man wearing what could possibly be the first emotional expression the boy had seen him wear. It was one of pity and shame. Thomas finally realized Thor's position in this elaborate revenge scheme he and his stepbrother had planned out for fifteen years.

"This was _his_ revenge all along," he said. "Not _yours_." When Thor responded with a silent, almost indiscernible nod, Thomas pressed on. "You never wanted any part of this, didn't you?" He stood up and looked up at Thor. "Well, this is the time to make things right! Help us! Stop your brother and sister before they completely tarnish my dad and my uncle's names!" He clutched Thor's pant leg. "_Please_..."

Thor looked at Thomas with an expressionless face. However, a lifetime of having a father who was usually emotionless gave Thomas seemingly supernatural abilities at reading the most blank of faces. And he knew that kind of face.

It was one of agreement.

* * *

Thaddeus smiled triumphantly the moment the Millennium Energy Device completely materialized on the large balcony, and the beam of energy disappeared. He turned to Mandy, who was standing beside a supercomputer-like device with a large screen.

"Mandy, fire up the Widespread Transmitter prototype!" he ordered. Mandy nodded, pressed a button, typed in several sets of complicated codes, and then finalized them by pulling a lever. Static appeared, and Mandy took this cue to move the machine onto the balcony while Thaddeus and Marie followed close behind.

Thaddeus looked at Marie and said, "Let's make history, honey."

* * *

The elevator doors slid open, and Phineas and Ferb ran out into a large but empty office room with numerous cubicles. Across the room was a staircase that the two knew led to their main office in the penthouse. As they ran across the many rows of cubicles, a large TV nearby suddenly activated itself, prompting them to stop.

"What? What's that?" asked Phineas. He and Ferb then gasped when Thaddeus's face appeared on the TV screen. "THADDEUS!"

_**"Hello, Tri-State**** Area!"**_ announced Thaddeus. _**"This is Thaddeus Fort, brilliant inventor and renowned genius, addressing to you all of the conception of a new invention, one that will guarantee infinite amounts of power to the entire **_**world _that will last for your lifetimes, all thanks to a little mathematical formula I concocted. No longer will we have the need for gasoline, oil, solar power, electricity, wind power...practically ANY kind of energy source, for this machine is the key to sustainable energy for the entire human race__!"_**

He stepped back, allowing the screen to broadcast Thaddeus's towering, menacing machine. Phineas and Ferb gasped at the sight of it.

_**"Behold, the Millennium Energy Device!"**_

"Oh, NO!" Phineas exclaimed. "Ferb, we've gotta get there quickly! Their formula is flawed, and if they activate that machine, it will self-destruct in a matter of minutes. ...And the blast will be powerful enough to level _the entire Tri-State Area_!"

"Phineas!" Ferb cried, pointing at the screen, specifically at a certain person. "Is that who I _think_ it is?"

"It IS!" Phineas gasped upon seeing the last person he'd expect to see, handling the machine with Thaddeus and Mandy. "_Marie_?"

* * *

"And _now_," Thaddeus exclaimed at the Widespread Transmitter, "we shall demonstrate the machine's true potential! My assistant, Marie, will do the honors in bringing you all immeasurable energy for your house, your very way of LIVING!" He turned at Marie and pointed at her dramatically. "Marie, PRESS THE BUTTON!"

Marie looked at the button she was assigned to press, a small red button. She knew she had gone far enough. She faked her daughterly love for Thaddeus in order to ensure Thomas's safety from his unstable mind, and now, she knew she was paying a price for manipulating him. She knew that pressing the button might mean bad business for the Tri-State Area, and she knew better than to endanger it. But the thing that was holding her back, the very thing that was preventing her from making a decision, was the fact that she was _scared_. Whatever she was doing, she could sense one outcome of it all: death.

"Don't just stand there, Marie," snarled Thaddeus, almost incomprehensibly, "press the button! And you will have all the public recognition you rightfully deserve! Just. Press. The. Goddamn. BUTTON. **NOW**."

* * *

Phineas and Ferb ran up the staircase as fast as they could.

"Don't do it, Marie!" Phineas pleaded repeatedly. "Don't do it!"

* * *

Marie nodded and lifted her finger, aiming it at the red button. Her finger trembled severely as it neared closer and closer...

_"Don't just stand there, Marie, press the button! And you will have all the public recognition you rightfully deserve!"_

Just then, a memory exploded all around Marie's mind...

* * *

_**Four years ago...**_

A five-year-old Marie sat in her bedroom, watching with glee as her invention, a beacon that was meant to create a hologram of the Universe, rattled rather perilously, but she dismissed all possible threats. All she was concerned about was telling her father about the miraculous invention she created by herself, her first invention. Seconds later, it suddenly started shooting off sparks before going completely offline, a wisp of gray, foul-smelling smoke emanating from its center. Then, naturally, it exploded, spraying Marie with pieces of metal and wire.

Marie blinked, her mind slowly registering what was going on. Then, like any other five-year-old in the situation, she burst into tears.

In a flash, the door swung open and Phineas ran into the room.

"Marie!" he shouted with concern. "What happened?! Did you fall over? Did you give your toe a boo-boo?"

Marie didn't answer. She didn't want to tell her father about the embarrassment she called her first invention. Instead, she continued to cry.

Unfortunately for her, Phineas spotted the small wreckage and realized instantly what the problem was.

"Oh, were you trying to _invent_ something?"

Still embarrassed, Marie continued crying, so Phineas lightly grabbed her shoulders and stared at her with a serious expression that silenced Marie immediately.

"Maria Elizabeth Flynn," he said, "were you trying to _invent_ something?"_  
_

Knowing that she had gotten to the point where her father referred to her by her full name, Marie nodded reluctantly. To her surprise, Phineas smiled.

"Ah, it's okay. We all make mistakes sometimes! It's all a part of life."

"_You_ never make mistakes, Daddy..." replied Marie. "I wanna be just like _you_, never making mistakes and being the best person there ever was!" She then ended the sentence with a quick hiccup. Phineas's smile widened and he laughed.

"I never make _mistakes_?" he asked. He then stopped laughing, sat beside Marie, and took her onto his lap. "Marie, let me tell you something. When I was your age, I tried to impress Grandpa Fletcher with a little platypult toy that would send Perry flying. But guess what?"

"You did it?"

"No, silly. It kept falling apart!"

Marie gasped in shock, but Phineas continued. "Every time I tried to make that toy, it kept falling apart. Finally, I gave up and started crying. Then, Grandpa Fletcher came in and told me these words: 'It doesn't matter if your invention keeps breaking. All you've gotta do is keep trying. And if you don't succeed, just know this: 'Phineas, you'll always be the greatest inventor, and there's always gonna be one person who'll enjoy your inventions, and that will always be me.''"

"Grandpa Fletcher said that?" Marie asked.

"Yes, Marie," Phineas replied. "That was my greatest lesson in life: no matter how much you fail in inventing, you'll always have one very special fan, and that's me."

He set Marie down on the ground, and his blue eyes gazed into her own. Marie could literally see the entire Universe in her father's eyes.

"Marie, you'll always be the world's greatest inventor, and there's always gonna be one person who'll enjoy your inventions. And that will always be me."

* * *

_"Marie, you'll be the world's greatest inventor, and everyone will know your name...and I'll be _very_ proud of you."_

_"Marie, you'll always be the world's greatest inventor, and there's always gonna be one person who'll enjoy your inventions. And that will always be me."_

Marie's eyes widened. As she continued to make inventions only to have them explode, her mind had long since warped that memory into another one. But now that things were all boiling down to being dependent on her simple decision, the pressure had excavated the original memory, all in place. And now, her father's true words fueled her with a new energy of confidence.

She lowered her hand, looked at Thaddeus, and replied, "_Never_."

* * *

**A/N:** HA! Thaddeus is getting DOUBLE the denial! But how will he react? Only the next chapter shall tell!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**14AmyChan:** Unfortunately, she did it. But with good intentions, at least!

**gamelover41592:** Wait, who was telling the truth?

**damonika2009**

**random guy (guest reviewer):** You're welcome.

**Deborahpflover:** Meh, it's okay. You have your reasons, I have mine. Oh yeah, the website has been experiencing some email inconsistencies and I believe they have already fixed the problem up. Thanks for your review!

**agent josie:** Well, she technically DIDN'T join them...

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**miguel mendoza (guest reviewer):** Uh...hello yourself...

**Metalhead7321**

**iheartphinabella05:** LOL!

**FanFicCriTicTheThird**

**BlytheHasFreckles:** Well, I actually didn't plan out Mandy's motivations that well yet, so thanks for the heads-up! And I'm glad you're really impressed with that scene! I had always been wondering why Marie keeps putting explosives in her inventions, so the thought occurred to me! Not sure if they explained it in the proper universe, but meh. Thanks for the review!

My, this is the longest chapter this story's seen! I'm SO proud of myself! *hugs self*

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	19. Kamikaze, Part 3

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.

* * *

A corner of Thaddeus's eye twitched menacingly, but Marie stood on her ground firmly, staring at the madman with a fearless expression. Mandy noticed the change in her brother's posture and hesitantly walked away from the fray as a precaution. The Widespread Transmitter continued to record their activities.

"_What_?" Thaddeus asked calmly.

"I said 'never'!" Marie replied. "I'll _never_ listen to your orders, I'll NEVER let you destroy my daddy's name, and, last but not least, I'll **NEVER**, **EVER** be your daughter! That is right, Thaddeus, I _faked_ all of the things I said to you!" She then opened up a hatch that exposed many sets of colored wires; she mentally thanked Thaddeus's security video of the events preceding the fairgrounds fire for showing her where the machine's weak spot was. "And I'm shutting this thing DOWN!"

But before she could grab whatever wires she could and disconnect them, Marie felt something strike the back of her head. Colors bombarded the corners of her eyes at lightning-fast speeds, and the world spun around her as she fell to the ground on her back. Dazed and confused, she looked up at her assailant: Mandy, whom she had forgotten about. Mandy stepped over her body and approached Thaddeus.

"You're welcome, bro," she said. Mandy then looked at Marie and frowned. "I had a feeling that girl came to our side too _quickly_..."

"And you didn't bother to at least make an attempt to _warn_ me?" Thaddeus asked, looking at Mandy with an irritated look.

"I took care of the problem, all right? Let's just get on with the plan."

"Of course, of course..." However, Thaddeus instead walked up to Marie and knelt down to have a closer look at her face. "Marie, I am very, _very_ disappointed in you. You abandoned your fifteen minutes of fame, all in the cause of _Phineas's_ love. Well, like father, like daughter, I suppose." He let out a hollow laugh as he took out a laser-pistol and pressed the barrel into Marie's forehead as she continued to remain silent. "Don't worry, Marie. I'll send your father over for company."

Marie suddenly smiled triumphantly. Thaddeus's eyes widened at the sudden change in her behavior.

"What?"

Marie replied mischievously, "Behind you!"

Thaddeus's eyes widened even more, just seconds before a large hand latched itself around the back of his neck and sent him slamming onto the Millennium Energy Device. Growling furiously, he looked up at his attacker, none other than...

"THOR?!" Thaddeus screeched. "WHAT THE HELL, YA CRAZY BASTARD?!"

Thor didn't respond, instead punching Thaddeus in the face a couple of times; the villain collapsed to the ground, dazed, his face sunken. Issuing a cry of anger, Mandy leaped forward and tried to attack her stepbrother, but in a mere split-second she was quickly knocked out with a punch to the abdomen. With the coast clear, Thomas emerged from behind the Widespread Transmitter and helped Marie up to her feet, while Thor picked up Thaddeus and Mandy's laser-weapons and tossed them over the large balcony and down to the street below.

"Tommy, you came back for me!" Marie exclaimed. She then hugged her step-cousin. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

"You're welcome, Marie," replied Thomas, blushing. Regaining his senses, he broke the hug and stared directly into her eyes. "Come on, we HAVE to get outta here-"

"No. Not until we destroy _that_!" Marie pointed at the Millennium Energy Device. "Thaddeus is gonna turn that thing on, and if he hopes that doing so will destroy our dads' reputations, then we CAN'T let that happen- AGH!"

Thaddeus had regained mobility and attacked Thor while he was distracted. Incapacitating Thor with a punch to the throat, Thaddeus then grabbed the screen of the Widespread Transmitter, tore it off with inhuman strength, walked up to his gagging stepbrother and opponent, and raised the screen above Thor's head. Paralyzed with fear, Marie and Thomas just looked away as they heard several crashing noises, followed by a mixture of furious grunts and maniacal laughter. Finally, a minute had passed and the noises stopped, instead being replaced with laborious, heavy breathing. However, they didn't bother to look still.

"Look at what you made me do!" snarled Thaddeus. "You made me kill my brother!" They then heard the shuffling of metal and wire. "Now I'm gonna kill you BOTH!"

"**NOOOOOOOOOO!**"

More grunts filled the air, and Marie and Thomas finally opened their eyes to observe the scene: someone had just kicked Thaddeus in the stomach, and the former inventor rolled away from his opponent, snarling savagely and with hatred. As the other fighter stood in front of the children defensively, Marie instantly recognized the man's triangular head and unkempt blazing-crimson hair.

"DAD!" Marie shouted in joy.

"MARIE, STAY BACK!" Phineas ordered.

Marie's eyes widened, for she had never heard her father use that tone in his voice. It was one of _fear_.

However, she complied and took a few steps backward along with Thomas. Just then, a hand placed itself on her shoulder, while another did so to Thomas's.

"Come with me, kids," Ferb whispered. "Phineas will handle him."

"But we can't _leave_ him!" protested Marie, as Phineas and Thaddeus resumed fighting. "And we have to shut down the-"

"Don't worry, your dad knows what he's doing. Come!"

Knowing that she had no other choice, Marie followed Ferb and Thomas out of the office room, taking one last look at her father as she left.

They didn't notice Mandy following them.

* * *

"Just give up, Flynn!" barked Thaddeus as he wiped a trickle of blood oozing from his cut lip. He then stretched out his arms out in a dramatic position. "It is _I_ who shall be changing history this time, not you! For ONCE in my life, I can be the better inventor, better than you!"

"I never cared if someone became better than me, Thaddeus," Phineas replied modestly as he clutched his bruised arm. "I never did, and I never will. But you HAVE to listen to me, Thaddeus! That formula you and your brother set up for your machine, it is flawed! And it is that flaw that'll cause the machine to self-destruct in a matter of minutes! _That_ is why Ferb and I went over to the backstage of the theater and tampered with that machine of yours! We were trying to shut it down, but we were only halfway done when the fire started. If it were not for us, your machine would have wiped the entire Tri-State Area off the map! And now you've rebuilt that thing, and you're endangering the Tri-State Area with it! Please, Thaddeus, you HAVE to listen to me!"

"Why should I listen to _you_?" Thaddeus spat. "All you've done was usurp me and Thor for five years! For as long as I can remember, it's always been Phineas and Ferb did this, Phineas and Ferb did that, blah blah blah! And I am SICK OF IT!" His mouth then curved into a malevolent grin, and a sinister chuckle slithered through the slits between his teeth. "But now...the tables will turn on _you_." He suddenly broke into a sprint, running out onto the balcony, towards the Millennium Energy Device and its activation button, shrieking madly, "I WILL BE FAMOUS, FAMOUS, **FAMOUS**!"

"NO!" Phineas jumped as far as he could, landing on the ground. He managed to grab Thaddeus's leg, allowing him to trip before he could press the button.

"YES!" Thaddeus kicked Phineas in the face, then scrambled out of his grasp and crawled towards the machine as fast as he could, giggling maniacally.

Reaching the machine's control panel, he was about to press the button when Phineas, quickly recovering from the kick, grabbed him, pulled him away, and slammed him against the exterior of the machine, proceeding to repeatedly punch him. Quickly, Thaddeus traveled his hand around the machine's surface and found a button. Pressing it, a hatch opened up at fast speeds, slamming into the back of Phineas's head and incapacitating him; he fell to the ground.

"HAHA!" Thaddeus stepped over Phineas, smirking triumphantly. "Thought you could win, huh? Well, you've been sadly _mistaken_..." He then bent closer to Phineas's face, so he could see his expression of victory. "Oh, and by the way, whether or not you were saving the Tri-State Area from my machine...lil' _Marie_ doesn't know that. See, I showed her a security video of you starting the fire that destroyed the old Danville Science Fair. No matter WHAT you say...she'll now hate you forever. You have let your daughter down, Phineas. You call yourself a father? I call you a DISGRACE to fatherhood."

Phineas's eyes narrowed. Thaddeus had officially crossed the line. Threatening his father-daughter relationship with Marie? It was worse than threatening Marie's life!

Yelling out furiously, Phineas, refueled with a newfound strength, seized Thaddeus and shoved him into the still-open hatch, which contained numerous wires. He then ripped out several wires and tied them around Thaddeus's neck. Snarling savagely, Thaddeus pulled his opponent in with him, and the both became partially entangled in the forest of wires. After a few minutes of struggling, Thaddeus fell out, quickly followed by Phineas, who managed to grab the wires still tied around the neck of his archenemy and began pulling them, effectively strangling him...

But then, he stopped a few seconds later. An image of Marie had flashed in his head the moment he tried to kill Thaddeus. Phineas knew that he couldn't make things worse between him and his daughter by becoming a murderer. No, he _wouldn't_...

A quiet cackle escaped Thaddeus's mouth.

"Wow, _really_?" he croaked. "That's all you GOT? You try to strangle me, but then you stop. Was it _love_ again? HA! You blew it, Flynn...you _blew_ it... Now, Marie will hate you, _always_, forever and _ever_..._infinity_... Heh heh heh heh heh..."

"You've lost your mind," spat Phineas bitterly. "Marie will ALWAYS love me. Because she's my daughter, and I'm her father. A child can't hate a parent forever."

"Are you sure about that, Flynn?"

Before Phineas could retort, the ground beneath the both of them suddenly began to tremble.

"What the?!" exclaimed Thaddeus, falling over from the trembling. "What's going on?!"

"Oh, no," Phineas moaned, his eyes widening in horror. "How much does this machine weigh?"

"Approximately seven tons..."

"This balcony can only support a maximum of _five_..."

* * *

At the street down below the P&F Industries complex, Isabella, Vanessa, Lieutenant Kestler, Detective Easton, and numerous officers watched as the balcony began to tremble, several pieces of it already breaking off and plummeting dozens of stories to the ground.

"Okay, something's up," Kestler said. "We're going in, everyone!"

Just then, the main entrance area to the complex exploded, forcing everyone to take shelter behind the police cruisers. Once the dust settled, Isabella and Vanessa cautiously peeked above the hood of the cruiser they were hiding behind and saw the security guard and the secretary held hostage minutes before running across the street, still gagged and their wrists tied behind their back, their screams muffled into a seemingly-comical tone by their gags.

A minute later, an army of Brobots marched out of the complex.

"What the?!" exclaimed Easton. "What in the world are THOSE?!"

"One of Phineas and Ferb's older inventions," Isabella explained. "My husband and brother-in-law recreated some of their first inventions for a live exhibit held inside the complex. Thaddeus and Thor must've gotten into the exhibit and taken control of the Brobot army."

"At least we're trained for occurrences like this," Kestler replied. Seconds later, a Ferbot appeared behind him, grabbed his laser-weapon, and reduced it into a pile of broken metallic pieces as he watched, open-mouthed.

"We're doomed."

* * *

Feeling the ground and the walls shake slightly, Marie, Thomas, and Ferb all stopped in their tracks. Fearing what was happening, Marie apprehensively looked up at the staircase she and the others had just used to get to the lower floor.

"_Daddy_..." she whispered.

Before she could even stop herself, Marie had already run back up the staircase.

"MARIE!" shouted Thomas. "NO!"

Suddenly, Mandy appeared at the top of the staircase, and before Marie could stop, she had already literally ran into the villainous woman's arms.

"HA!" Mandy exclaimed, smiling maliciously. "**GOTCHA**!"

"MARIE!" Thomas cried, running towards Mandy before Ferb could stop him. Unfortunately, Mandy smirked and slapped Thomas hard, sending him tumbling down the staircase and landing before Ferb's feet in a heap.

Ferb's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fists in fury. He looked up at Mandy as she prepared to walk away with Marie in her clutches; his green hair was cast over his eyes, giving the man-of-action a dark, menacing look.

"That. Was. My. SON."

"What?" Mandy asked, turning around. Seconds later, Ferb ran up the staircase and tackled her to the ground.

Marie took this advantage to escape Mandy and crawl away. She dodged a small vase thrown by Mandy, which instead hit a nearby window and shattered it.

Looking back, she sighed with relief upon seeing that her Uncle Ferb had the upper hand against his opponent, then started crawling towards the main office, where Phineas and Thaddeus were at, her mind quickly calculating a plan.

* * *

Groaning in pain, Thomas opened his eyes. This marked the fourth time in just over a day that he had been knocked out. However, this one appeared to be for a short period of time, as he found himself lying at the staircase leading up to the main office of P&F Industries. Standing up slowly, wincing from the many bruises sustained from the fall, the boy looked up and watched his father fighting Mandy.

When Mandy kicked Ferb in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, Thomas's eyes narrowed in anger.

"That. Was. My. DAD."

"What?" Mandy asked, turning around. Seconds later, Thomas ran up the staircase. "Oh, dear, not _again_-"

With astonishing strength, Thomas climbed up Mandy's body, sat on her shoulders, curled his legs against her neck, and starting hitting her in the face from the back as hard as he could. Mandy screamed as the boy continued his assault, screaming out as he did so. All rationality had been lost in Thomas's mind in this moment.

Thomas was so caught up in the violence, and Mandy was so preoccupied with trying to get Thomas off of her, that both didn't notice the large hole left on the window Mandy shattered minutes earlier. The hole that Mandy was blindly stumbling _towards_.

Recovering from Mandy's kick, Ferb gasped upon seeing his son inches close to death...

Time seemed to slow itself nearly to a stop as the father stood up and dashed towards Thomas and Mandy, his green hair flying wildly, an actual emotion on his face: one of absolute fear. He stretched out his hand, just as Mandy accidentally stepped off the edge... Thomas and Mandy were _falling_...

"**NOOOOOOOOOO!**"

Ferb felt time catch up with him the moment he caught someone's hand. A bloodcurdling scream was still echoing. Slowly and fearfully, he looked over the edge.

He had caught Thomas.

"D-D-_Dad_?" stuttered Thomas in fear.

Ferb sighed in relief, smiled, and replied, "It's okay. I've got you, son. ...I've got you."

Thomas smiled back.

* * *

Marie ran into the main office and found it strangely empty of anything noteworthy. She couldn't see Phineas and Thaddeus fighting. Deducing that they were out on the balcony, she ran towards it. As she neared it, she could see her father and Thaddeus lying there motionlessly, near the Millennium Energy Device, tangled in wires. She looked down and saw cracks decorating the balcony's exterior and still extending outward like snakes slithering through the ground. A creak was filling the air...

"Marie, stay BACK."

Marie looked at Phineas and replied, "Come on, Daddy, you can make it!"

"I can't, honey," Phineas said. "If I make any movement, the balcony could collapse. Just...just go get help..."

"I'm _not_ leaving you here, Daddy! I _know_ you can do it! You can do ANYTHING!"

"I can't do _everything_, Marie. I'm not perfect."

"Yes you ARE, Daddy! You've built a rollercoaster, you became a one-hit wonder, you traveled through time, you've fought aliens...you even did something you cannot even remember! You can get yourself outta this!"

Phineas sighed. "I appreciate the support, Marie. But-"

Just then, there was a loud cracking noise. The floor supporting the Millennium Energy Device appeared to be sinking slowly. Phineas, Marie, and Thaddeus all looked down at the unstable ground fearfully as the crackling noises continued. Thaddeus then looked at Phineas and Marie, his mouth curving into a crafty grin.

"This thing's gonna collapse any moment," he said, catching their attention. "I'm _never_ gonna activate my machine." His grin widened. "I'll NEVER be known as the one who beat Phineas Flynn at his own game. Well, there _is_ one more game we can still square off at, Flynn. I guarantee that we'll both lose, though."

"What's that?" asked Phineas, anticipating the worst.

Thaddeus suddenly stood up and stomped on the ground once.

"The game of life."

The creak suddenly grew louder, and before Phineas and Marie knew it, the ground beneath Thaddeus collapsed, sending the disgraced inventor apparently plunging to his doom. This was quickly followed by the rest of the balcony, which began to collapse, piece by piece.

"DADDY!" Marie screeched.

Phineas stood up and began running towards Marie, avoiding all sinking pieces, ignoring the wires that he was still tangled in. He was close...just a few more feet...

Suddenly, he stopped running. Phineas looked down and saw, through a large, gaping cavity in the balcony floor, Thaddeus holding onto his foot with one hand, the other hand holding onto a supporting column for the balcony. He was still tangled in the wires of the Millennium Energy Device, and he was smiling the most maniacal, yet also the most triumphant, selfish smile Phineas had ever seen.

"Going down?"

A second later, the floor beneath the Millennium Energy Device collapsed from all of the excess weight, and the gargantuan machine plummeted to the earth below. It didn't take long for Phineas to realize Thaddeus's plan: the wires they were tangled in were still connected to the Millennium Energy Device. Thaddeus intended to kill the both of them, a final mission, a kamikaze to exact his ultimate revenge.

"DADDY!" Marie screeched.

"MARIE!" screeched Phineas, seconds before the force of gravity pulled him and Thaddeus off of the balcony and sent them both falling through the air.

Cackling madly, Thaddeus grabbed Phineas's neck, held it tightly, and pulled his face closer to his.

"ISN'T THIS **PERFECT**?!" he roared over the howling of the wind. "WE BOTH DIE **TOGETHER**! GAME OVER! HAHA! DON'T YOU JUST **LOVE** A HAPPY ENDING?!"

It was the end, Phineas knew. Well, he definitely wasn't planning on spending his death with a madman.

He kicked Thaddeus as hard as he could in the stomach and watched as he was blown away by a gust of wind, screaming in utmost agony. Phineas then looked down and saw the ground nearing. He allowed his body to relax, and he closed his eyes, ready for Death to take him...

As he waited for the impact, several memories flashed through his eyes like a film projector.

It was nine years ago, and Phineas saw Marie for the first time. Her eyes dug deep into his soul, and he realized that he had just made his greatest invention ever.

It was eight years ago, and Phineas was singing a lullaby to a wailing Marie. The moment she embraced the sandman, he hugged her lovingly.

It was seven years ago, and Phineas heard Marie say her first words. "Daddy? Where ish Pewy?" He had never felt so proud of her and himself.

It was six years ago, and Phineas struggled not to cry as he dropped off a sobbing Marie at preschool. But when he came back, he was relieved to hear that she made friends with Baljeet's daughter Jasmine, among others.

It was five years ago, and Phineas allowed Marie to sleep with in his and Isabella's bed when she had a nightmare. He felt more at peace when she started snuggling up against him for comfort.

It was four years ago, and Phineas comforted Marie when she tried to make her first invention. He told her his first lie to her, but he knew it was for the best, and she was better off not knowing one certain aspect of the true story.

It was three years ago, and Phineas watched as Marie happily trained with the other Lil' Sparks in her group in the Fireside Girl initiation trials. He never felt so proud of her when she passed all of the trials given to her.

It was two years ago, and Phineas watched as Marie made an invention of her own. He then experienced his worst nightmare when she was caught in an explosion.

It was last year, and Phineas was dancing with Marie during a father-daughter school dance. He remembered how the both of them felt that it was only just the two of them, dancing together, and no one else in the dance hall.

It was the day he dropped Marie off at the Fletcher house, just hours before she was kidnapped, and Phineas heard Marie tell him how much she loved him.

Phineas smiled, just as he began to smell smoke coming from the wreckage of the Millennium Energy Device. He was close now...

He suddenly stopped. Phineas opened his eyes and found himself levitating a few inches above the ground.

"PHINEAS!"

Phineas looked over at the police cruisers, where he found Isabella running across a pile of offline Brobots.

"PHINEAS, THANK **PLATYPUS** YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Yeah, but..." Phineas looked around. "How in the world AM I okay?"

* * *

_Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!_

"I KNEW the Anti-Gravity Evil Launch-Inator would be useful for _something_!" Doofenshmirtz exclaimed.

"No, _I_ knew it," replied Norm. "You just kept protesting until I convinced you to use it after repeatedly calling you 'Dad'. Dad."

"Don't contradict me, Norm, this is my golden moment!"

* * *

**A/N:** And the final showdown's OVER! Thaddeus and Mandy are dead, and Marie and Thomas are safe. PHEW!

I'd like to thank the following for reviewing (can't answer reviews right now, sorry):

**gamelover41592**

**random guy (guest reviewer)**

**Guest reviewer**

**Deborahpflover**

**14AmyChan**

**damonika2009**

**Yarthayaj'knaushtavdhladleklwa**

**iheartphinabella05**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**BlueLightningXD**

Okay, this is officially longer than my previous chapter! And I'm more proud of this one! YAYZ!

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	20. Aftermath

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Antonio de la Torre Saavedra DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.

* * *

Her head was dripping with glistening sweat. Her heart hammered against her rib-cage. Her legs seemed to have a mind of their own. Marie just couldn't stop running down the many floors of the P&F Industries complex. She didn't care if she passed Thomas and Ferb, who were both running after her. She didn't care whenever she tripped on something on the floor. She didn't care when SWAT agents stormed towards her and tried to stop her. All she needed to do was to get to the street below and see if her father miraculously survived the fall. Marie couldn't bear to think that after all of this time, her father might be... She couldn't finish the thought of it.

"Young miss, it's okay, it's the police!" the SWAT commander shouted as she tried to run past the unit. "You're gonna be fine, just come with us-"

"NO!" Marie shouted as loud as she could while she struggled to get through the agents. "I need to see if my daddy is okay!"

"Marie," Ferb said as he and Thomas approached her, "this is a tall building. No one can survive such a fall-"

"NO, UNCLE FERB! DADDY WOULD! HE CAN DO **ANYTHING**! JUST LET ME THROUGH!"

"We can't do that, young miss," the commander replied. "We're gonna have to take you down there slowly. This building's still unsafe-"

"LET. ME. **THROUGH**!" Marie screeched at the top of her lungs. When Ferb grabbed her to restrain her, the nine-year-old began resisting violently, hitting her uncle as hard as she could, but to no avail. "LET ME GO, UNCLE FERB! I NEED TO SEE DADDY! I NEED TO SEE HIM! I NEED TO SEE!"

"Marie..." Ferb hesitated for a minute, but then, he continued. "Even your daddy can't survive a fall like that. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but-"

"NO, STOP SAYING THAT, UNCLE FERB! STOP SAYING THAT! DADDY CAN DO ANYTHING, I KNOW HE CAN! THIS IS NOTHING TO HIM, HE CAN SURVIVE A FALL LIKE THAT, HE CAN, HE CAN, HE CAN!"

Ferb simply replied, "I'm sorry."

Marie tried to protest further, but the trauma and the pressure overwhelmed her. As reality began to sink in, she burst into tears, and her uncle embraced her, hugging her as tightly and lovingly as he could. Thomas and the SWAT unit watched the emotional scene unfold.

A few minutes passed when Ferb's cell phone suddenly rang. Looking at it, his eyes widened.

It was Phineas's number.

He quickly answered it. "Hello?" His eyes widened even further. "PHINEAS?!"

Marie's head jerked up, all crying subsiding in an instant.

"Phineas, is that really you?!" Though Marie couldn't hear the response that was coming from the other line of the phone, she immediately knew what it meant when Ferb's open mouth curved into a shocked, yet satisfied and relieved smile.

"I KNEW IT!" she exclaimed. "I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!" She quickly grabbed Ferb's phone and took over the call. "DADDY, DADDY, DADDY! THANK **PLATYPUS** YOU'RE OKAY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"On the street, Marie," Phineas replied. "How about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Daddy," said Marie, sniffling as she smiled happily. "I'm okay now."

Hanging up, Marie followed the SWAT unit down the P&F Industries complex. After several minutes, which seemed to be extended into hours, she finally stepped out of the obliterated main entrance of the complex. There, she was greeted with the sight of a pile of offline Brobots, several trashed police cruisers, and debris scattered across the street. It resembled a war zone.

But she ignored the devastation that lay before her. Instead, she smiled at the sight of the person she loved the most.

"DADDY!" she cried.

Phineas turned around and absentmindedly dropped the cell phone he was carrying.

"MARIE!" he yelled back in joy.

The two Flynns ran toward each other, ignoring all of their surroundings. The moment Phineas grabbed his daughter, lifted her off of the ground, and hugged her as tightly as he could, spinning as he did so, it felt as if a bomb had gone off. The both were laughing in relief as they hugged each other, never letting the other go. The world was nothing to them in this moment.

"Oh, Marie, I was _so_ worried about you!" Phineas exclaimed in blissful happiness. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

"It's okay, Daddy," replied Marie. "I'm okay. We're all okay."

"Marie, oh Marie!" another voice rang out in relief.

"Mom!" Marie cried as Isabella joined in on the hug.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Ferb were reuniting with Vanessa.

"Oh, Thomas!" exclaimed Vanessa as she wrapped her arms around Thomas as tightly as she could. "I'm SO glad you're okay! Oh, I'm so glad you're safe!"

"I'm fine, Mom, I'm fine," Thomas said quickly, gagging a bit. "Uh, Mom? You're hugging me too tight..."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Vanessa released her son and then looked into his eyes seriously. "Thomas, I am really, really, really sorry if you felt that we were always siding with Marie. I promise you, your dad and I will listen to your side of the argument first. Everyone will."

"Thanks, Mom, but that's something I honestly don't care about anymore. What I care about is being back with you and Dad."

Vanessa smiled, her eyes glistening, and she hugged Thomas again, joined by Ferb.

The two families rejoiced at the reunion for a couple minutes, until a policeman finally stepped in.

"Alright, guys, as happy as this is," he announced, "I'm gonna have to break it all up. We have to get these children to a hospital to be examined."

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME **NOW**!"

Everyone turned their heads and watched as Thaddeus Fort, wearing a straitjacket and strapped tight to a stretcher, was being taken into a police van. Behind them, a second stretcher carrying Mandy's body was loaded into an ambulance. Thaddeus, having seen the corpse of his older sister, was struggling against his bonds and yelling out incomprehensible rambles as the officers nonchalantly ignored him. Upon seeing the Flynn and Fletcher families, he stopped thrashing about and stared at them with a face of pure, white-hot loathing that almost seemed to burn.

"You _bastards_, Flynn, Fletcher!" he spat. "You make me kill my brother! You get my sister killed! You destroy my machine! You completely erase any possibility of success for my future! You THIEVES! You ruined my life for the last time!"

"Indeed it's the last time," Thomas replied mockingly. "You're going to jail!"

However, Thaddeus's mouth curved into a sinister grin, and a triumphant chuckle escaped his mouth, small flecks of dark-red blood leaping out like insects as he did so. "At least I can have the last laugh, Flynn, Fletcher! I showed your children the truth about you! Your precious lil' children now know what you really are: frauds, liars, cheaters! They will question you! They will no longer have the same views of you! Your children shall hate you!"

"We don't hate our dads," replied Marie boldly. "We still love them. It doesn't matter about what they've done; we will always love them unconditionally. What you've done to us, Thaddeus, it didn't _work_." She smiled proudly. "You lose the game."

Thaddeus's eyes widened as he stared directly into Marie's and recognized the sincerity in her voice. He clenched his teeth hard as madness completely overtook him.

"**NO**!" Thaddeus roared. He then let out a howl that seemed to have been forged from the depths of Hell as the officers tried loading his stretcher in the van.

Suddenly, his arms managed to tear free from their shackles, and Thaddeus grabbed one of the officers' necks, squeezing it hard. Seconds later, Marie heard a sudden popping sound, and the officer collapsed to the ground, dead. The other officer took out his laser-weapon, but Thaddeus's other arm grabbed it as well and wrestled it out of his hands. He then shot the officer repeatedly before taking the remaining straps off of him. Marie gasped as the disgraced inventor started stalking towards her like a predator cornering its prey, his stolen weapon in hand.

"DADDY, HELP ME!" Marie cried. But when she turned around...there was no one there.

All of a sudden, the sky started turning into a sickly shade of purple, and red-colored lightning flashed through the sky. When Marie looked back at Thaddeus, she saw that he had grown several times his size and was engulfed in some sort of violet flame. The gargantuan being began to kneel down towards her.

_**"Your daddy can't help you now, little**** Marie,"**_ Thaddeus boomed. _**"He chickened out. He ran away like the coward he was, leaving you all **_**alone**_**..."**_

"No, no, NO!" Marie screamed. "This can't be true! My dad would never abandon me!"

_**"Oh, but it **_**is _true__, Marie. But you can make it stop. All you have to do...is take my hand, and I'll _never_ leave you...my little girl..."_**

"NEVER!"

_**"If you insist..."**_

Suddenly, his mouth opening in a wide, gaping hole...and not stopping until it was big enough to swallow several entire intact buses...

Thaddeus was going to swallow Marie...

* * *

"MARIE!"

Marie forced open her eyes and screamed as loud as she could. She prepared to fight back against whoever had her in his or her lap, but then, she stopped instantly upon identifying, through her blurry vision, the familiar blue eyes and the shrub of wild crimson hair. Could...could it _be_?

"_Dad_?..." she whispered.

"Marie, are you okay?!" Phineas exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"

"What?" Marie then remembered what had happened to her: the moment she watched her father and Thaddeus plunge to their apparent doom, darkness took over all of her senses. The occurrence she thought had happened, the one where Thaddeus broke free...it had been a _dream_..._  
_

But now, she was back in reality...and better yet, her father was still alive...

"Yeah," she replied, smiling as her eyesight adjusted and she saw her father in full detail, looking down at her as if she were still a baby. "I'm okay."

Phineas sighed and hugged her as tightly as he could.

"That's good."

"What happened to you, Dad? How'd you survive?"

"Some mysterious anti-gravity force broke my fall and lifted me back here. A few minutes later, it shut itself off, but I had quite a safe landing by the time." He cracked a joking smile as he rubbed his apparently-bruised back.

Suddenly, another question occupied Marie's curiosity. "What about..._him_?"

Phineas knew what Marie was talking about. "Don't worry, he's no longer a threat. Police managed to get him into a container before the anti-gravity force turned off. He's now on his way to jail." He stroked Marie's hair comfortingly. "We're safe now, Marie, we're safe. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I'm not afraid, Dad," Marie said, but the moment she said it, a shadow of doubt had suddenly cast itself upon her. However, she ignored the feeling and emphasized her response with her trademark optimistic smile.

Phineas smiled back and hugged her again. "That's good."

"Marie!" a familiar voice called. Marie and Phineas watched as Thomas, Ferb, Isabella, and Vanessa ran into the room, followed by police officers.

"Mom!" Marie cried as Isabella hugged her and Phineas.

The Flynn family hugged each other for over a minute, until suddenly...

"Hey?" asked Thomas. "Where's Thor?"

Indeed, Thor's corpse was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

At the Tri-State General Hospital, Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Vanessa paced around as they waited for the doctor to finish examining Marie and Thomas and mending the wounds they sustained. It had just been an hour after the incident at P&F Industries finally concluded. Thaddeus had been sent to a jail cell, while Mandy's body had been found on top of a car in the parking lot. As for Thor, investigators concluded that there was no evidence that his body had been moved, meaning he might be still alive, still somewhere out there. However, Marie and Thomas weren't worried, for they felt that Thor will no longer bother them or their families ever again, now that Thaddeus, the only reason he had committed his crimes, was gone.

Finally, after waiting for several minutes, the doctor finally came out, closely followed by Marie and Thomas, both fully healed.

"Well, their wounds have all been mended," the doctor announced, smiling. "Marie had a broken collarbone, dislocated ankle, and a cut lip. Thomas, on the other hand, had quite a day: a broken hand and nose, several bruising, and a cut lip. But they're both okay now."

"Thank you, doctor," Phineas replied, shaking the doctor's hand. Ferb shook the doctor's hand as well before the two families walked up toward an elevator.

"Are you sure you're okay, Thomas?" Vanessa asked as she continued to examine her son.

"I'm okay, Mom!" exclaimed Thomas, but he couldn't help but smile.

As they approached the nearest elevator, the two families passed a patient room, and the corner of Marie's eye caught the familiar colors of a light-brown skin, black hair, and yellow eyes. Eyes that were staring at her... Marie couldn't help but look back in curiosity. Though she only saw this particular man when he was teenager, she knew what he'd look like as an adult. The moment her eyes met with Antonio's, she looked away quickly.

When the families approached the elevator, Marie asked, "Uh, Daddy?"

"Yes, Marie?" Phineas replied, looking down at her.

"What's Antonio doing here?"

Phineas and Isabella looked at one another, surprised, but mostly worried that their archenemy was located in the same hospital as them. Wanting to avoid another scene, they found relief when the elevator doors slid open.

"We'll talk about it later, honey," Isabella said quickly as the two families of three stepped inside the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, Marie heard Antonio's voice echoing down the hallway.

"Hey, Marie! How's that arm?"

* * *

**A/N:** It looks like Thaddeus is actually alive, Thor is missing, and Antonio's still taunting! Looks like the story's not yet over!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (can't answer reviews, sorry):

**gamelover41592**

**random guy (guest reviewer)**

**Deborahpflover**

**BlueLightningXD**

**damonika2009**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**14AmyChan**

**iheartphinabella05**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**agent josie**

**FanFicCriTicTheThird**

**Proxus**

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	21. An Optimist's Punishment

**A/N:** Before we begin, I would like to explain an issue my reviewers had in posting a review for the story's latest chapter. See, I deleted the chapter announcing my fanfiction contest, which has since been closed, and of course, site rules dictate that you cannot review chapters twice unless you sign in as anonymous. So yeah, I am sorry for the confusion. I guess it is this confusion that reduced the average number of reviews, so sorry.

Enough chitchat! ENJOY!

**P.S.:** If any of you aren't aware of it yet, check out "A Love Unexpected" if you're in the mood for some non-standard romantic pairings. :D

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

The elevator stopped with a slight lurch, but Marie couldn't help but feel the strong feeling of nausea rising up in her abdomen anyway. She had just experienced a big number of traumatic stuff, including her brushes with Death itself. It was nothing an average nine-year-old would go through in his or her entire life. She tightened the grip she had on Phineas's hand; after all of this, she was determined to never let go of her father ever again.

The elevator doors slid open, and Marie's worries subsided the moment she saw a number of familiar faces: Jazz, Baljeet, Mishti, Candace, Jeremy, Amanda, Xavier and Fred, Linda, Lawrence, Vivian, Doofenshmirtz, and Charlene. Everyone stood up at the sight of her and Thomas and ran up to greet them.

"Oh my goodness! Marie!" Jazz squealed in delight and ran forward, embracing her best friend in a tight hug. "I am _so_ glad you're okay! I was afraid that...that..." She broke off, almost choking on the sentence.

However, Marie smiled kindly and replied, "It's okay, Jazz. I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Who in heaven's name took you?!"

"Remember my dad's stories?"

"Yeah."

"And you remember him mentioning that he and my Uncle Ferb had counterparts who were their rivals from the moment they first met?"

Jazz nodded. "Thaddeus and Thor, I believe it was. Those guys were definitely inferior." Her eyes widened when she made the realization. "OMG! It was _them_?!"

"Yeah. They wanted revenge against my dad and Uncle Ferb, so they kidnapped me and Tommy in order to attack their hearts."

"Oh my God, Marie, I'm really glad you're okay! Who knows what they could've done to you?"

"Yeah, who knows?" Marie replied, chuckling nervously as dark memories of Thaddeus's psychological torture returned to the corners of her mind. However, Jazz didn't notice the tone of her friend's laughter and instead hugged her a second time.

"Well, I'm glad you're back, Marie. I was wondering that without you, who is gonna blow up the city now?"

Marie chuckled, just as Candace knelt down and hugged her niece. Jazz, in the meantime, looked at Thomas, who had finished being hugged excessively by Charlene.

"So, Thomas," she said craftily, "did you and Marie do some, say, _bonding_?"

Instantly catching on, Thomas's cheeks became florid and his forehead began to glisten with the beginnings of sweat. "NO!" he replied defensively. "Well, we had to stick together! Those guys were unpredictable, and we didn't want to take any chances!"

"Well...I heard Marie call you Tommy. You were close by, and yet, you didn't let out a single burst of anger. That's quite a leap for you..._Tommy_."

Thomas became even redder. "I-I-I was being, uh, smothered by Grandma Charlene at the, uh, time, alright? How was I supposed to know she called me Tommy?" He looked at Marie as she was being hugged by Candace. "Hey, Marie! Stop calling me Tommy, okay?"

"That was kinda poor," said Jazz teasingly. "No anger at all." Her crafty smile became wider. "Admit it, Thomas, if you two didn't do any bonding, then you've at least finally become used to being called Tommy."

"I didn't!" protested Thomas angrily.

"You can spit lies to me all you want, Tommy boy, but believe me, I think you've finally gotten a head-start in realizing your feelings for Marie. Score one for Thomarie!"

Thomas merely delivered the Indian girl a flat look. "Thomarie?"

"My name for a romantic relationship between you and Marie. Just like my dad once coined the term Phinabella for Uncle Phineas and Aunt Isabella when they were younger." Thomas continued to look at Jazz flatly. "What?! It's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Thomas just sighed in both anger and embarrassment.

After a few hours, the joyous reunion had now dispersed. Everyone returned to their homes, leaving Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, Vanessa, Marie, and Thomas alone in the waiting room of the Tri-State General Hospital.

"Well, kids," Phineas said, "time to go home."

"Indeed," replied Isabella. "We all need to get some sleep, now that the nightmare we've been going through is now finally over."

"Hey, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Fletcher!" a voice called.

The two families saw Lieutenant Kestler walking into the waiting room. For the first time, he was no longer wearing his formal suit, now just wearing a plain white-and-green-striped T-shirt, blue jeans, and dark-blue high-top sneakers.

"Hello, Lieutenant," Phineas greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing, I'm just visiting my daughter," Kestler replied.

"That's nice! How's she doing?"

"She's in a coma."

An awkward silence fell upon the waiting room for a few minutes.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Phineas said.

"It's okay. She's been that way for about five years. I've gotten used to it, which is kinda surprising, since she had been ra-" He broke off suddenly and choked on the sentence. He then regained his composure and resumed speaking. "Well, since we're all here, I just thought I'd say I am very glad you safely got your children back." He looked down at Marie and Thomas. "Marie, Thomas, how're you two feeling?"

"Never been better," Marie replied, a bit silently and nervously, but the lieutenant didn't notice.

Phineas smiled at Kestler. "Thank you very much for helping us find our children. What can we do to repay you?"

Kestler smiled back. "Just keep your kids closer, that's all I ask."

Phineas nodded. "Understood. Well, we should get going."

"Alright. Well, I hope I'll see you guys soon. And hopefully not because of my work."

"Goodbye, Lieutenant."

* * *

Marie closed her eyes and inhaled slowly as she heard a wave crash against several rocks below. Exhaling, she opened her eyes again, just as a cold, gentle breeze brushed against her, causing her crimson hair to fly and her dress to flutter slightly. She was standing on a cliff that overlooked the ocean, which was just as blue as her father's eyes; they even twinkled from the sunlight, reminiscent of a twinkling that she sometimes saw occurring on her father's eyes whenever he got a new idea for an amazing invention. Not a cloud was present in the sky, similarly colored in a lovely shade of blue. Marie smiled at the beautiful sight, closed her eyes again, and stretched out her arms, allowing herself to just spiritually leave her body...

_"Marie..."_

"Yes, wind?" she replied, not opening her eyes, continuing to feel the arms of the breeze embrace her.

_"Why're you still here?"_

"Why? It's a beautiful sight, and after what happened to me and Tommy yesterday, I am not willing to let this go."

_"You cannot just stay here all the time."_

"Sure I can. Just watch me, wind."

The nine-year-old then took in a deep breath. For some reason, the smell of the air seemed to be filled with more sea-salt than usual...

_"Open your eyes."_

For some reason, Marie obliged. She then screamed at the sight: the blue sky was now occupied by the grayest of storm-clouds, which were shooting off bright bolts of lightning; the ocean, now colored gray, was more violent; and the wind had become stronger. A new wave crashed against the cliff with a lot of force, spraying Marie with droplets of water. Shaking her head in disbelief, she began to back away slowly and cautiously.

The wind's voice was louder this time, and more menacing._ "You have been seeing the world in a false light. But after what has happened to you, you cannot ignore the fact any longer. Everyone you have ever known in your life has been hiding secrets. Everything you've seen, heard, smelled, touched...it's all propaganda. Everywhere you look, you see a lie. _This _is the world's true colors. It's not a shade of blue, it's a shade of _gray_."_

"No!" Marie cried. "No, no, no, no, NO! This isn't supposed to be _happening_!"

_"Oh, it _is_ happening, Marie. This is what happens when you view things optimistically. You get _punished_."_

"I don't wanna be punished! What am I being punished _for_?!"

_"For being an optimist. You deny the fact that the world is flawed and you constantly ignore and dismiss all of the bad things that ever happen to you. And when you finally see the world for what it is...then that is when you are_ punished_.__ That is why I kidnapped you, Marie. To _punish _you."_

Marie's eyes widened, just as the ocean and the storm-clouds began to swirl around in a howling vortex. Many purple-colored lightning bolts began to shoot out of the vortex and bombard the cliff like destructive missiles. However, Marie ignored the danger all around, instead slowly turning around, flinching in fear.

"_Thaddeus_?"

She finally turned around, but she only saw a small fountain, the top of which was gushing out gray water. Unlike the rest of the environment, the fountain, as well as the small area encircling it, seemed to be shielded from the violent aberration of weather.

Marie cautiously walked away from the cliff and towards the fountain. The moment she approached it, the roar of the vortex, the rumbling of thunder, the howling of the wind, their sounds suddenly seemed to go into mute, as if someone turned down the volume to zero. The only noise she could hear now was the fountain gushing out its water; it was a sound both calming and disturbing.

Marie looked into the water.

And saw Thaddeus's reflection, staring back at her.

Marie let out an earsplitting scream, but an unseen force seemed to be keeping her from stepping back. She could only continue to stare into Thaddeus's brown eyes and his malicious yet triumphant smirk.

_"It'll be alright, Marie. Sometimes, punishment is good. After all, _I _went through the same thing. _I _thought the world was perfect, and right under my grasp. I had a real wake-up call when your father ruined _everything_. It was quite hard, even traumatic for me. But after a while, I learned the best way to cope with the situation: anger, hatred, a lust for _vengeance_. And guess what? It _worked_..."_

"NO!" Marie covered her eyes. "I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU! THIS IS A TRICK! I WILL NOT FALL FOR IT!"

_"Oh, but you _will_,"_ Thaddeus's voice hammered through her hands. _"Trick or not, you will fall eventually. Just remember-"_

Suddenly, the unknown force turned Marie around, and she stared into Thaddeus's brown eyes.

_"-The_ lies _your dad told you."_

"**NO**!"

* * *

"MARIE!"

Marie forced open her eyes and found herself, to her horror, still staring straight into Thaddeus's face. She let out a loud scream and began frantically flailing her limbs as means to repel Thaddeus. Just then, a familiar voice filled her ears.

"Marie, honey! Calm _down_! Are you okay?"

Marie sighed in relief and replied, "Yeah, I'm okay, Daddy."

"Are you _sure_? You were moving around and muttering in your sleep. Something about punishment-"

"I'm fine, Daddy, I swear!"

However, Marie wasn't so sure about that at all...

* * *

**A/N:** Well, it looks like Thaddeus is still affecting Marie even if he's locked away. What consequences this will bring, only I know and plan on telling you in the following chapters, MWAHAHAHA! I guarantee you, though, it'll be quite interesting and involving some father-daughter bonding.

And Thomas will have his own conflict too. Maybe you know what it is already... ;) ;) ;)

As for Thor, who's gone on the run last time he was seen...we're gonna be seeing him one last time. DUN DUN DUN!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

**Guest reviewer:** Well, you're gonna have to find out.

**Proxus:** Yes, I fooled you, huh?

**Deborahpflover:** HA! I GOTCHA! Which was the plan, of course. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**BlueLightningXD:** XD GOTCHA TOO!

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	22. Doof and Thomas

**A/N:** Here we go, yet another update! And how's this for a bonus: there's a little something extra at the end... ;) ;) ;)

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

Thomas sat under the Fletcher backyard tree, looking up at the crisp green leaves as a slight cold breeze blew across the air, causing the leaves and twigs to slowly and gracefully wave at him. He took in a deep breath as he began to muse about the events that had just occurred.

Just yesterday, he and Marie had been rescued from the clutches of Thaddeus, Thor, and Mandy. Mandy was dead, Thaddeus had been sent off to a mental institution for the criminally insane, and Thor mysteriously went missing after being assumed dead by Thaddeus's hand. During his period of captivity, he became overprotective of Marie, and even after they were rescued, he couldn't help but feel that his step-cousin was in grave danger; after all, she still looked nervous back at the hospital. He knew that he needed to get the pressure off. After all, the two of them were now safe and sound; there was no more present danger.

Just then, the door slid open, and Vanessa walked into the backyard. "Hi, Thomas," she greeted.

"Hey, Mom," Thomas replied.

"How're you holding up?"

"I'm doing fine, Mom, I'm okay." Thomas smiled slightly. "Thanks, though."

Vanessa nodded. She then looked down at the ground and said, "Thomas, I just wanna say...I am sorry for not recognizing your feelings about us being strict with you whenever you are angry at Marie." She looked up at her son with a determined expression. "But from this point on, Dad and I will listen to your say first before jumping to conclusions. Your part of the story can now be listened, Thomas."

Thomas's smile widened, and he replied, "Thanks, Mom. But I don't care about that anymore. I'm just glad to be back home with you and Dad."

Vanessa stretched out her arms. "Mind giving your mom a hug?"

Usually, Thomas wasn't the type to partake in his parents' affections. However, after what had happened, he merely smiled, stood up, and hugged Vanessa.

"By the way, Thomas," Vanessa said slyly into her son's ear as she smiled craftily, "Marie and Jazz are coming over. Your dad and I have to do some discussions with your Uncle Phineas and Aunt Isabella, and Grandpa Doof's gonna watch you."

Thomas couldn't help but smile. "There's _always_ a catch, isn't there?"

Vanessa released her son, chuckled heartily, and walked back into the house, while Thomas resumed sitting under the backyard tree. He looked over at the blades of grass and saw Steve scurrying towards him. He allowed his pet chameleon to settle on his lap, and as the reptile did, he looked at him.

"Did ya miss me, Steve?" he asked. "I missed you too. ...You wanna hear something interesting? I could've sworn you and Perry were rescuing me and Marie when we escaped from our captors. You two were standing on your hind legs and wearing these random fedoras." Steve suddenly shifted his position slightly, but Thomas didn't take much notice of it as he continued talking. "It couldn't have been real, though. I mean, we weren't being fed, we got a beating...we must've been hallucinating or something. It should explain that odd sight we saw. Really weird, it was, Steve. _Really_ weird..."

Thomas didn't know it, but Steve let out a relieved sigh and put away the small satellite device he was preparing to take out.

* * *

A few minutes passed, and Thomas heard Vanessa answer the front door when the doorbell rang, followed by her voice.

"Hey, Dad."

"Why, hello Vanessa!" Doofenshmirtz's high-pitched, Drusselsteinian voice exclaimed.

"I just wanna say..." Suddenly, Vanessa's voice became lower in volume and incomprehensible, but Thomas didn't mind it. She always whispered certain things to her father, the nature of which he never knew about and didn't bother to find out.

"You're welcome, Vanessa. Anything for my daughter, especially in a serious time of need. Even if it involves...your _husband_...or those _Flynns_..." Doofenshmirtz bitterly muttered something that was likely a statement of distaste for Ferb and the Flynn family, a fact Thomas knew very well about.

Just then, Vanessa entered the backyard, followed closely by the slouching, tall, thin, grubby figure that was Doofenshmirtz's.

"Hi, Thomas, my evil grandson!" Doofenshmirtz greeted.

"For the last time, Grandpa Doof," replied Thomas, "I am _not_ evil."

Doofenshmirtz clapped his palms together and smiled devilishly. "You may deny it all you want, Thomas, but-" Vanessa suddenly elbowed her father's shoulder and she gave him a stern, reprimanding look. "Okay, okay, knocking it off..." The evil scientist cleared his throat. "Anyway, Thomas, I am gonna be watching you and your bratty friends. I didn't wanna do this either, but after what had happened, your mother's not taking any chances. And don't you think about doing anything drastic! I have the eyes, noses, and ears of a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of ACTION!"

Thomas scoffed, but Doofenshmirtz didn't notice. Just then, Ferb entered the backyard, followed by Phineas, Isabella, Jazz, and, to Thomas's surprise, a rather nervous and fidgety Marie. Ferb shot Doofenshmirtz a bitter glare.

"Doofenshmirtz," he said.

"Fletcher," replied Doofenshmirtz sourly. He then added at Phineas and Isabella, "Flynn."

"Watch the kids closely, Doofenshmirtz," Phineas said, ignoring the scientist's statement of loathing. Doofenshmirtz groaned, but he nodded. The two couples ventured back into the house, while Doofenshmirtz grabbed a folding hover-chair, unfolded it, and sat down on it.

Thomas sat up and approached Marie and Jazz.

"Hey, guys," he greeted. "What do you wanna build for today?"

"I don't really know," Marie replied, so silently that Thomas and Jazz could barely hear her.

"What? Really?" Thomas frowned in concern. "Marie, are you okay? You're not yourself-"

"You THINK?!" exclaimed Marie. "You and I nearly _died_! And now you're thinking about just acting as if the past two days never HAPPENED?!"

"Marie!" Jazz cried. "Calm down, girl-"

"I CAN'T! I just...I just _can't_... I just wanna be left alone right now..." Marie walked off and sat under the shade of the backyard tree.

Thomas prepared to walk up to Marie and comfort her, but Jazz grabbed his arm and shook her head at him.

"She's been that way when I got into the car," she said. "I tried everything, but she seems to have finally been broken."

Thomas cast Marie a sad, pitiful expression before walking away. He prepared to go into the house when Doofenshmirtz spoke to him.

"I wouldn't go inside if I were you, Thomas. Your mom gave me instructions to prevent you or the other brats from going into the house until she says otherwise, and that's what I'm gonna do, or my name isn't Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz!"

The nine-year-old boy sighed and instead sat down on the grass. He looked at Marie and Jazz, who were now quietly sitting together under the tree.

"You can't bear to see her like this, I'm assuming?"

Thomas looked at Doofenshmirtz and nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe Marie's now like this. She reminds me of Xavier and Fred now, just boring and inactive."

"Yeah. You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but...looking at the brat, she was much more acceptable and bearable as a chatterbox." The evil scientist shuddered. "Wow, I can't believe the day has come that I actually _said_ that..."

"I cannot believe that this is happening," Thomas said. "Marie is finally defeated. The one thing I never thought I would actually be seeing in my lifetime is a defeated Marie." He clenched his fists together. "That Thaddeus somehow got to her spirit and broke it. If only I got to him before the cops did-"

Doofenshmirtz's eyes widened and he shook his head disapprovingly. "Now, now, Thomas, there's nothing that could've been done to prevent any of this, so don't go all vengeful and stuff. And that's coming from an evil scientist, may I say!"

Thomas suddenly looked down at the ground, sadness filling his mind as the realization hit him. "Actually, Grandpa Doof, there is something I could've done to prevent all of this." He looked up and stared at Marie. "I should've been nicer to Marie-"

"No, no, NO!" Doofenshmirtz interrupted, staring directly at Thomas seriously. "Don't you DARE say that, Thomas! Whatever you've done, my boy, all of that never had _anything_ to do with what happened during the past two days! All of that were those guys' doings and no one else's, ESPECIALLY not yours!"

"But maybe if I hadn't gone to the garage, then maybe Thaddeus and Thor wouldn't have taken the opportunity to take us, Grandpa Doof."

Doofenshmirtz got out of his hover-chair, knelt down to Thomas, and grabbed his face so his grandson can look directly into his eyes.

"It wouldn't have _mattered_, Thomas. Judging by those guys' back-story, they would've stopped at NOTHING to get you and Marie! They would've gone after your mom and your friend if you didn't go into the garage! And I speak from the experience of being an evil villain! If my own back-story was bad enough, I would've stopped at getting what I wanted! None of your actions could've dictated what was gonna happen next, Thomas. I swear to my father's name and my home of Drusselstein that you did absolutely _nothing_ to ensure any of this."_  
_

Thomas sniffled, smiled, and hugged his maternal grandfather. "Thanks, Grandpa Doof," he replied. "I never thought you'd be this caring." He then raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Unless this has been just a distraction ploy while you injected some so-called evil juice into my neck?"

"No, absolutely not, no ploy there!" However, Doofenshmirtz innocently retracted a syringe-like device back into his arm-cuff.

"Grandpa Doof?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever gotten the feeling that..." Thomas's voice became lower. "When you look at a girl, you feel all warm inside?"

Doofenshmirtz's eyes widened. "You have a CRUSH on that chatterbox?!"

"She's not a chatterbox!" Thomas protested. "She's Marie Flynn! But that, over there, isn't the Marie Flynn I know! It's as if Thaddeus replaced her with someone else. I don't want that Marie Flynn, I want the Marie Flynn that I know and love!" His eyes widened, and then, he nodded. "Yeah, I have a crush on Marie..."

"Aren't you two _cousins_?"

"Step-cousins, Grandpa Doof."

"Potato, patato."

"Anyway, Grandpa Doof...she is the only thing my life is absolutely dependent on! It's her optimism that balances my otherwise depressing life! Without that...without _her_, I am just an empty shell, doomed to live this life! I cannot let her be this way! I love her, and I need to find a way to bring the old her back!"

"Well, don't look at me, Thomas. It's not like I can build a Make-Everything-Happy-Inator or something-"

Suddenly, Thomas's eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers. "That's IT!" he exclaimed. "You're a _genius_, Grandpa Doof!" He froze and suddenly shuddered. "Wow, I can't believe the day has come that I actually _said_ that-"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Doofenshmirtz cried happily. "MY OWN GRANDSON **PRAISED** ME! And better yet, he also THANKED me! Oh, this is _definitely_ going onto my Diary-Inator! Oh, all of this is just too PRICELESS! HAHAHA!"

Thomas ignored Doofenshmirtz and ran up to Jazz, who was still sitting beside Marie.

"Jazz, I need your help!" he exclaimed.

"With what?" Jazz replied, but Thomas took her arm and led her away from Marie and the tree.

"I'll tell you once we get to the garage."

"Won't your Grandpa Doof try to stop us?"

Thomas just smiled. "Don't worry about him, Jazz. I doubt he'll notice what we're doing."

"THIS IS A GOLDEN MOMENT IN MY LIFE! OH, JUST WAIT TILL PERRY THE PLATYPUS AND STEVE THE CHAMELEON HEAR ABOUT THIS!"

* * *

**SNEAK PEEK:**

"You look beautiful, girls!" Sasha exclaimed. "I told you, Marie, Jazz, the dresses are doing _wonders_ for the both of you!"

"I don't know, Sasha," Marie replied, looking over her exposed shoulder at the boys that were ogling her. "I think it's a little _revealing_..."

"Come on, Marie," Bridgette said, "this is high school! Every girl dresses that way!"

"Really?" Marie eyed a rather heavy-set girl wearing plain clothing. Bridgette also noticed and smirked.

"Well, girls who fit in, of course."

Marie sighed nervously. "I don't know..."

"Come on, Marie!" exclaimed Jazz. "I'm actually starting to enjoy this trend!" She then waved flirtatiously at a group of athletes were smiling at the group of girls.

"Besides," Rosa said, putting a hand on Marie's shoulder, "this is the Danville High tradition! Girls at the top wear to impress! It's one of the key things that'll help you through the next four years." She then followed Jazz's lead, waving at the same group of boys, and she giggled when one of them waved back.

"Some tradition this is..." whispered Marie. "This is not the Danville High School my parents told me about at all..."

"Come again, Marie?" Bridgette asked.

Before Marie could reply, the doors of the main entrance suddenly flew open. The students in the hallway watched, their jaws dropping in shock as a group of seven boys wearing identical brown trench-coats and black boots stalked their way across them, looking rather menacing with their bitter expressions and glares. One of the seven, who was in the lead of the group and appeared to be the leader, even glared hatefully at the same group of athletes Jazz and Rosa flirted with earlier, and he made a slow, slitting motion with his hand across his neck, to which the athletes stepped a bit further back in fear. Marie and the other girls could only watch in shock and some fear as the seven made their way past them.

Just then, Marie watched as the two boys at the rear of the group passed her. She instantly recognized both, but only one in particular caught her attention.

"_Tommy_?..."

* * *

**A/N:** So, what does Thomas have in mind to cure Marie's emotional affliction? And it looks like we've seen a tender Thomas/Doof moment here! Hopefully you liked it! And what of these "discussions" Vanessa and Ferb will be having with Phineas and Isabella?

As for the little extra at the end, that's right, I'm making another Marie-and-Thomas story. I've enjoyed writing down these two so much that I decided I don't wanna end with this story. In fact, this story will be a backdrop for the one I have planned! Obviously, this will be a high-school fic starring a teenage Marie and Thomas, and their designs are based on drawings Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember have made. Check them out, they're as excellent as the ones of them as their younger selves. I will also reveal to you that this will be a series-format fanfic, along the lines of Lowrider's "Summer of Love" and Michi41's "Circle of Love" and "Unexpected". Hopefully this is something that'll be highly anticipated!

I'd like to thank those that reviewed:

**fan-like-irving:** She will, of course! And it'll be in a way that I hope will be viewed as heartfelt.

**Deborahpflover:** Yes, yes he is. I'm glad you found the part with Jazz and Thomas funny! And HA! GOTCHA!

**woodland5 (guest reviewer):** XD

**gamelover41592:** Yes, this will now just focus on Marie coping.

**14AmyChan**

**pandfrock:** Thank you very much for your review! Indeed I shall keep it up!

**agent josie**

**Proxus:** MWAHAHAHA! Yes, I am EVIL! HAHAHAHAHA!

**BlueLightningXD:** Actually, no. Thaddeus is now out of the picture. But Thor, he's not.

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	23. Repairing Marie, Part 1

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

Thomas never realized that it was extremely difficult to construct an invention without Marie's supervision prior to today. And now, he was receiving the full end of the punishment, tirelessly attempting to build a machine with Jazz using the parts they used to build the robotic legs just two days earlier, along with parts from his dad's garage, only to watch as it fell into shambles halfway through the construction. In the background, Doofenshmirtz continued to ramble in happiness while Marie still sat under the tree, still distraught.

"Thomas, what're we doing here?" Jazz asked the moment the invention collapsed for the umpteenth time. "We're not getting anywhere with this invention. And what in the world is it supposed to be again?"

"I'm trying to make an invention that'll help Marie feel better," replied Thomas as he scrambled to pick up the fallen pieces.

"Well, good luck with that. I'm quitting-"

"NO!" Thomas dropped the parts and grabbed Jazz's shoulder. "Don't quit now, Jazz! Don't you want Marie to feel better? She's obviously emotionally hurt! Don't you wanna be her friend and lend her a helping hand?"

"I would if the invention we're making didn't keep falling apart, Thomas. Man, getting ourselves nearly blown up was much better than this bore." She then raised an eyebrow curiously. "And since when did you become concerned for Marie's well-being, Thomas?"

"I'm being a concerned friend and cousin, that's all." However, Thomas began to blush, and to his dismay, Jazz caught on in an instant.

"AH-HA! I KNEW IT! YOU DO LIKE MA-"

Thomas gasped and hurriedly placed a hand over her mouth, blocking out the rest of the sentence from Marie's ears. "Don't yell it out loud, Jazz!" he moaned quietly as he removed his hand from Jazz's mouth, which then curved into a triumphant smile.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it _all along_!" the Indian girl whispered excitedly. "You like her, Thomas, just admit it!"

Thomas's florid cheeks reddened even more as he replied grumpily, "Yes, yes I do..."

"EEK! I can't believe the day's finally come!"

"Look, Jazz, this is no time to talk about my feelings for Marie! Just help me help her. Help your best friend!"

"Okay, okay, I will." However, Jazz's smile remained in place. "Only-"

"Oh, dear..."

"Only if you admit your feelings to Marie afterwards."

"WHAT?!"

"Do it!"

"Must we _talk_ about this, Jazz?!"

"Just say you will, and then we'll get onto business!"

"Okay, I will," Thomas snarled bitterly. "Now come on, Jazz, we have to find a way to set up this invention..."

"Why don't we ask your Grandpa Doof?"

"Jazz, no matter what he keeps telling us, I heavily doubt that my Grandpa Doof's an inventor, let alone an evil scientist."

"My father always told me that if you haven't seen something you don't believe in yet, then that means there's always a possibility. I mean, Thomas, there has to be at least some credibility in your Grandpa Doof's rambles!"

"Jazz, he says that he fights Perry and Steve on a daily basis, has a talking robot at home, makes the most absurd-sounding of things, tries conquering the entire Tri-State Area, leads a group of other evil scientists, and once went to another dimension. D'you find any of that credible?"

"Not really, but-"

"Well, as far as I can tell, Jazz, he's just a mere pharmacist-"

"HEY, I AM NO PHARMACIST!"

Doofenshmirtz had heard Thomas's latest statement and was now marching towards the two children with a furious expression on his face.

"And are you saying that my rambles aren't credible?" asked Doofenshmirtz, his arms crossed, a sour frown plastered upon his face.

"Yes," Thomas replied.

"Well, there goes the loving, praising, generous grandson that existed for a few seconds." Doofenshmirtz stuck his chin up high in the air in a snobby position. "I have well indeed done all of the things you have just described, son! I can prove it to you!"

"Yeah?" Jazz asked slyly. "Then why don't you build an invention that makes people better with those parts lying on the ground?"

"The heck I can!" Doofenshmirtz then sprung into action, gathering the pieces and building while Thomas and Jazz watched.

"That's not gonna work, you know," Thomas whispered to Jazz.

"I'm testing him, and it looks like it's working so far!"

"Yeah. So far..." Thomas paused in mid-sentence upon seeing that Doofenshmirtz had finished completing the invention, a laser-ray device.

"BEHOLD, THE MAKE-EVERYTHING-HAPPY-INATOR!" Doofenshmirtz then leaned towards Thomas and smirked at him triumphantly. "How do ya like me now, Thomas the Judge-a-pus? Even though you're not really a Judge-a-pus, which is a play on platypus, of which you aren't either...

Thomas blinked twice, slowly registering what had just happened before him. "Wow. Maybe Thaddeus and Thor hit me harder than I thought... First Steve and Perry walking on twos and wearing weird fedoras, and now Grandpa Doof actually _made_ something..."

Doofenshmirtz groaned in disbelief and stepped out of the way as Thomas manned the Inator and aimed it at Marie.

"For you, Marie," he whispered.

Thomas then pressed a prominent green button that he assumed was the firing switch; a low humming sound emanated from the Inator, but then, it slowly dissipated. Blinking in confusion, he pressed another button, but nothing else happened. After pressing all of the buttons present on the Inator, without any success, he flicked his head at Doofenshmirtz, who was equally confused at the outcome.

"Grandpa Doof, what'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Doofenshmirtz replied. "I'm pretty sure that thing was operational!"

"What do you press to fire this thing anyway?"

"That big green button."

"Yeah, I pressed that one, Grandpa Doof. I thought you were actually a master inventor, and you let me, and Marie down with this pile of junk!"

Doofenshmirtz crossed his arms angrily. "Excuse me! I have inventing expertise! I just haven't utilized it in a while, so my skills are obviously a bit rusty!"

"A bit rusty?" Thomas hopped off of the Inator. "More like _very_ rusty! This thing is useless!"

The evil scientist stalked away. "Wow, what happened to that tender grandpa-grandson moment we had?"

Thomas sat down against the Inator and sighed with frustration, joined by Jazz.

"Well, we tried, Thomas," she said.

"The only thing that can help Marie now is Uncle Phineas," replied Thomas.

* * *

"Isabella and I need your help, Ferb, Vanessa," Phineas said as he, Isabella, Ferb, and Vanessa seated themselves at the Fletcher living room table. "Marie's extremely distraught about the kidnapping, and not even my inventions can alleviate her trauma. What can we do?"

"Well, Thomas is holding up shockingly well," replied Vanessa. "The brain-scan showed that he hasn't acquired any emotional distress, which is quite surprising-"

"He's obviously inherited the Fletchers' hardy soul," Ferb interrupted in a mock-smug tone.

"Ferb, I'm serious," said Phineas. "Just this morning, I caught Marie tossing and turning in her sleep, muttering about Thaddeus and punishment." He clenched his fists in white-hot anger. "Goddamn Thaddeus, he _got_ to her; he got to her spirit and completely BROKE it! This is EXACTLY what I've been fearing when Marie and Thomas would be somehow rescued! A broken, defeated Marie-"

"We can still find a way to save Marie before she goes completely over the edge, bro. You need to tell her that you know her pain, and that you _share_ it."

"What d'you mean I _share_ her pain?" Phineas asked, confused. "Since when did I-" His eyes widened when the realization hit him. "No. No, no, NO, Ferb. I thought the entire gang promised to never, EVER tell this story to any of our children!"

"Yeah, Ferb!" Isabella added. "It's gonna be too much for Marie! Are you CRAZY?!"

"Look, I know it's a drastic solution, very, _v__ery_ drastic, but this is the worst thing we've experienced since that...particular time. Of course, you can sugarcoat the story and leave out certain details, but if inventions made by you can't help Marie, Phineas, then I'm afraid you have no other choice."

Phineas sighed, knowing that Ferb was right, and he nodded at his stepbrother. Seeing her husband's approval at the radical suggestion, Isabella also let out a sigh.

"The rest of the gang's gonna freak if they hear about this-"

"Why?" asked Vanessa. "What is this event you're talking about?"

"That's right, you weren't there." Phineas looked at his sister-in-law with a mysteriously dark expression. "Honestly, after hearing this story, you'll wish you've heard a sugarcoated edition... But, here goes. Anyway..."

Every word Phineas said, the more colder the room seemed to be.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, short chapter's short, but it looks like there's something Phineas, Isabella, Ferb, and the rest of the gang are hiding from their children. What could it be?

I'd like to thank those who reviewed (cannot answer reviews, sorry):

**Deborahpflover**

**woodland5 (guest reviewer)**

**gamelover41592**

**BlytheHasFreckles**

**humanusscriptor**

**BlueLightningXD**

**14AmyChan**

Well, hope you enjoyed this short chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	24. Secrets, Part 2

**A/N:** Hey, everyone! Welcome to the second-to-last chapter of "Taken Away"! That's right, second-to-last. The following chapter will wrap up this story. Well, not officially, there's still the teenage Marie and Thomas fic next, but, just saying, this story's almost done. I'm really pleased with the popularity this story's received; it's probably the second-most reviewed Marie-and-Thomas-centric story on the site (Animegx43's "To be human" is at the top of that list; I HIGHLY recommend reading it!).

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.

* * *

Phineas stepped out of the backyard and instantly found Marie sitting under the tree, a lack of life present in her usually-active blue eyes. Doofenshmirtz was sitting on a hover-chair, muttering to himself, while Thomas and Jazz were busy disassembling some sort of invention they apparently made. As the inventor walked up towards the tree, a precious, highly favored memory began to occupy his mind...

* * *

_**Two years ago...**_

Phineas entered the backyard as he watched a seven-year-old Marie creating another invention, apparently a machine made of gray metal plates nailed together, with a beacon with several spotlights lining the sides. Almost a year earlier, Marie had begun inventing, and she was still getting the hang of it. However, her inexperience was still evident from her inventions' tendencies to explode by the end of the day.

"Hey, Marie," Phineas greeted. "Whatcha' doin'?"

"Creating a machine that can make all of those pretty autumn leaves," Marie replied, grinning happily. "I'm gonna merge autumn into spring, making an all-new season called Spr'Autumn! And everyone can play in the leaves and we can have fun cleaning them up afterwards and all of that other autumn stuff!"

Phineas smiled proudly, fondly reminiscing of the time he and Ferb invented S'Winter. "Sounds like a great idea, Marie!" he exclaimed. Just then, Phineas noticed all of the dynamite Marie was loading onto her invention. "Uh, sweetie? What's with the dynamite?"

"It's to give the invention more pizzazz!"

"Remember the last time you gave your invention more _pizzazz_ by loading explosives?"

Marie smiled and rubbed her back fondly. "Yep. But don't worry, Daddy! It's gonna be alright this time, I just _know_ it!"

"If you say so..." replied Phineas reluctantly.

A few hours later, Marie finished her invention, and all of the children living on the street, including Thomas, Jazz, Xavier, and Fred, had gathered into the backyard to examine the newest invention created by the Flynn. Phineas watched proudly as Marie and the other children enjoyed Spr'Autumn, except for Xavier and Fred, both of whom were naturally sitting under the backyard tree and watching as their peers had fun.

Several more hours passed, and most of the kids had dispersed, having had their share of fun with Spr'Autumn. Naturally, the exposure of dry autumn leaves to the flammable dynamite fuses set the explosives off, engulfing the entire backyard in a shock-blast.

Phineas ran out into the backyard the moment the explosion ripped through the area, sending Marie, Thomas, and Jazz flying into the air.

"Marie, Marie!" the father cried. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Daddy," Marie replied, giggling optimistically. "I guess I need more pizzazz for the inventions."

Phineas sighed in relief.

* * *

_"But this is different,"_ Phineas thought. _"This was not about another of Marie's inventions exploding. This is a situation no parent wants their child to go through, and one no parent wants to ever deal with. And now, I am burdened with the task of enforcing all of my paternal skills to bring solace to my little girl. This is the biggest test in my years as a father."_ He sighed heavily as he came closer to Marie._ "Well, here goes."_

Sitting down next to Marie, Phineas greeted, "Hey, Marie. Whatcha' doin'?"

"Nothing, Dad," Marie replied glumly.

"What? No 'Daddy'?"

Marie was silent, and Phineas sighed with disappointment; things were immediately not going well for him.

"Daddy?"

Phineas slightly smiled at the return of his favorite nickname. "Yes, Marie?"

"Do you think...I'm a great inventor?..."

"That's the understatement of the millennium, Marie! You're the best inventor there is! You'll always be the greatest inventor in my eyes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Phineas frowned and wrapped an arm around his daughter, pulling her closer to him. "Look, I know you're still holding up from what happened during the past two days, Marie. I just want you to know that if you have a problem, I'm always there for you."

It was briefly silent. During that time, Marie cast a glance into the blue sky, occupied by only a few white clouds.

"Are you _really_ sure, Daddy?" she finally asked.

"Why? Why are you so doubtful of your inventions, Marie honey? I think they're the best."

"Well...they're not as great as yours..."

Phineas's eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Is that why you're feeling down?" he asked. "You feel that I'll always be the better inventor than you?"

Marie sniffled as tears welled up in her eyes. "I have always wanted to be the greatest inventor ever seen. But I have realized that, in order to do that, I have to beat the one already at the top: _you_. But you were always the greatest inventor to me, Daddy. I didn't want to beat you. You're too perfect for that. And...And that's why I have been loading my inventions with explosives. I want them gone before they become _too_ good... Your place as the world's greatest inventor will still be secure..."

"Marie, there's nothing to be ashamed about in beating me at my own game. I have completely realized that there'll eventually be someone better than me. And I have never been prouder to realize that the person better than me is _you_."

Marie looked up at her father with teary eyes and exclaimed, "But Daddy! You're too good for that! I love you, and you're the best person there ever was in the world! That is why I mustn't become better than you! I can't do that to you!"

"Marie, it's _okay_. There's nothing wrong with becoming better than me."

"But Thaddeus-"

Phineas's eyes widened again, and he grabbed Marie's shoulders, gazing his blue eyes into her own. Marie could literally see the entire Universe in her father's eyes.

"Marie Elizabeth Flynn," he said, "do NOT listen to what Thaddeus has told you. Do NOT let him affect you. If you let him do so, you're letting him win. And no one ever wants the bad guy to win. Especially you. Is that right?"

"But he's right, Daddy... He's been right about everything... We all have secrets that flaw our relationships-"

"Secrets?"

Marie nodded. "Another reason I am upset. Dad, you never told me of the time you tried to stop Thaddeus and Thor's invention. In fact...you've barely told me anything about your years in high school. The only things you always keep telling me of were what happened before and during Aunt Candace and Uncle Jeremy's wedding, and that sleepover pillow-fight. But little have you told me of anything else aside from that. And now that I know of another thing that you did during that time...I...I...I was actually wondering about the credibility of those stories..."

Phineas sighed and put Marie onto his lap. "Marie, would you like me to tell you another story about me and your mom's years in high school? Something different?"

The nine-year-old looked up at her father curiously, unsure if she should say yes or no. However, Phineas began the story anyway.

"Well, it was sometime after your Aunt Candace and Uncle Jeremy's wedding. Your mom and I were already going out, and Uncle Ferb and Aunt Vanessa were hitting it off as well. A lot of our friends in our gang, including Uncle Baljeet and Uncle Buford, were involved in romantic relationships. It was quite a golden year for all of us, and especially during the summer that followed the wedding, we were all going strong.

"Then, we had the adventure of a lifetime during that same summer. These strange bad guys went after me and your Uncle Ferb. They seemed to have a lot of interest in us because of our inventing skills. And guess what? They were anti-technology."

Marie's eyes widened. "Anti-technology?" she asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently so. Anyway, it appeared that your Uncle Ferb and I were essential for their master plan to de-industrialize the entire world. But we resisted their efforts, so they..." He paused for a brief moment before continuing. "...they kidnapped your mother, Aunt Vanessa, and their friends."

"No way!" Marie exclaimed. "How'd you save them?"

"We used all of our nifty inventions to defeat them, of course! But...there are certain things about what happened that summer that I absolutely _cannot_ tell you about. It's too much for you, or any other child you age, to handle. As a result, the gang made a promise to never, EVER tell this story to our future children. I'm breaking that pact as we speak, Marie. So, the next time you see Uncle Baljeet, Uncle Buford, or any of our other friends, you must NEVER tell them I told you this. Promise?"

"I promise, Daddy." Marie then raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "But if you promised not to tell anyone else this, why'd you tell me in the first place, though?"

"Well, what's your reaction to what I just told you?"

"I am...shocked. I never knew Mom went through a kidnapping like me. I am also..._curious_. Are you sure you cannot tell me these certain details?"

"Yes," Phineas replied tersely. "Anyway, there is a reason parents keep secrets from their children. It's to protect them from the dangers they will bring. No child could handle the fact that something horrible and traumatic occurred to their parents. But since you've gone through a similar situation, I think you'd understand properly. But Marie, parents know what's best for their children. And sometimes, it has to involve keeping some details of their past from them. That's why I never told you about the fiasco with Thaddeus and Thor and the old Danville Science Fair. How'd you feel upon learning that your Uncle Ferb and I accidentally started that fire?"

"Shocked beyond belief."

"You'd never think the same of me again." Phineas sighed. "Marie, I don't expect you to forgive me and your mom for keeping all of these secrets from you. But I just want you to know that it is a parent's intuition to do so, for their own protection. In fact, when you have your own child, I won't be surprised if I learned that you never told him or her of the time _you_ got kidnapped. Because it's to protect them from any emotional trauma the news might inflict upon them. ...The very same trauma you are going through right this minute."

Marie looked away from her father and stared directly at the ground in utter disbelief. Things were falling into place for her. She completely understood now, that her father cared for her, no matter what, and was willing to make all of these sacrifices for her well-being.

"So, Marie?" he asked. "How do you feel now?"

"A bit better now," replied Marie; however, she smiled. "I guess I understand why I mustn't know certain things about you, Daddy. I might not like what I find." She suddenly sadly frowned again. "But there's still one problem."

"What's that, honey?"

"My inventing skills. I am still afraid to surpass you-"

Phineas sighed and looked around. He then spotted Isabella, who had been watching the entire conversation from afar with Ferb and Vanessa; the inventor stood up, approached her inside the house, talked to her briefly, and suddenly took something from Isabella's bow as Marie watched with curiosity. Phineas then left the house, walked up towards Marie, and knelt down; in his hand was a tiny beacon-like device styled in the fashion of a diamond pin.

"What is that, Daddy?" Marie asked.

"Something I gave your mom when we rescued her from her captors," replied Phineas. "This was just in case she was targeted again, and she needed all the support she needed in the face of a dire situation. Turn the beacon."

Marie nodded and did so. Suddenly, a holographic projection of Phineas and Isabella holding an infant Marie emerged from the beacon, causing the girl to gasp.

Phineas chuckled. "We change the picture every decade or so. But this is all the support you're gonna need now, and I'm pretty sure it'll be just enough to aid you in your darkest hour. And Your mom doesn't need it anymore; she's completely fine. Put it on your bow."

"My bow?"

Phineas just continued to smile. "People will suspect that it's just some random pin for the bow and never, EVER take it away from you."

Marie looked at the pin, then untied her bow and placed the pin on it. Looking softly at the hologram it continued to project, a wide smile of happiness slowly formed upon her lips. Phineas, Thomas, Jazz, Isabella, Ferb, Vanessa, and even Doofenshmirtz watched in awe as Marie stood up and retied the bow over her head.

The girl looked at her father. "Thanks, Daddy," she said. "This means a lot to me."

Phineas smiled back. "You're welcome, Marie."

* * *

**A/N:** Looks like all's well that ends well, huh? Well, there's still an epilogue to go, everyone!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed:

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Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!


	25. Epilogue

**A/N:** Here we are, everyone, the final chapter of "Taken Away", which I guarantee you will be quite exciting, especially at the end! Thanks, everyone, for sticking with this story and giving me praise, since this is my first time writing down Marie and Thomas and their universe. Special thanks goes to Animegx43, who helped me allow for the usage of these OCs; actually, he/she informed me that it was okay if I DIDN'T ask for permission as long as I explicitly recognize their real owners, which explains all the "Important Disclaimers" sections that began all of the chapters.

Enough chitchat! ENJOY!

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS:**

-Marie Flynn DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-Thomas Fletcher DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Melty19.  
-Jasmine Rai DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to sam-ely-ember and Melty19.  
-Antonio de la Torre Saavedra DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Angelus19 and sam-ely-ember.  
-"Vanilla Twilight" DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All claims of ownership fall to Owl City.

* * *

Four days ago, Marie and Thomas were kidnapped by Phineas and Ferb's vengeful rivals Thaddeus and Thor, who held them against their will for a torturous twenty-four hours. Despite all of the brutal action that transpired during these hours, things have now resettled back to how they were before the abduction occurred in two days' time. Perry and Steve resumed committing to their duties as secret agents without worrying about their owners, Thomas continued to openly doubt the credibility of his grandfather Doofenshmirtz's rants, Jazz started annoying Thomas again about his crush on Marie, and Marie, her father's daughter, began inventing again, as evidenced by the current activity in the Flynn backyard. It was as if the kidnapping and the events that happened during that close call with tragedy never happened.

Finishing his cup of coffee, Phineas stared out of the window and smiled at the sight of his daughter, happy that she had started inventing again with Thomas and Jazz without worries. His inspiring story and the pin he gave to her definitely reached into her soul and exterminated all traces of influence from Thaddeus, who would now rot in a prison cell knowing that his plan of revenge was unsuccessful. He knew that the nightmare had yet to be completely over; Lieutenant Kestler had asked him, Marie, Thomas, and Ferb to testify against the disgraced inventor in his trial, which was set to begin in the next month. Though that meant bringing back the memories of that harrowing incident, but Marie was especially determined to put away her kidnapper and would-be father's killer behind bars forever.

Just then, Phineas noticed that Marie started constructing her invention immediately. Without any sort of explosive material.

Setting down his cup, the inventor ventured outside of the backyard and approached Marie, who appeared to be making some sort of beacon.

"Hey, Marie," he greeted. "Whatcha' doin', inventing without explosives for once?"

Marie looked up at her father, the cheerful smile that he severely treasured still in place. "It's a surprise, Daddy..." she said, winking.

"Would you mind if I help?"

"No! It's a surprise for you; I don't want you to see! Go, go back inside the house, Daddy! I'll tell you once it's done."

Phineas nodded. "Alright, sweetie," he replied.

As he walked back inside the house, he found Isabella waiting for him.

"She's back to normal," she commented.

"Yes, yes she is." Phineas sighed with content and stared after his daughter, smiling widely. "She's been through quite a lot, even nearly experiencing death, but she proves that the Flynn spirit can never, ever be broken. ...I'm so proud of her, and I'll always be, no matter what."

Isabella wrapped an arm around his shoulder and laid her head against his other shoulder lovingly. "Do you think she'll ever find out about what happened to us and the gang back in high school? The one with...you-know-what?"

"I doubt she will. She knows that we kept that part of our history from her for a reason."

"But just because she understands why we kept that secret from her, doesn't mean she'll never learn the whole truth. Not all of the Coalition agents were captured, you know. And who knows where those remnants are, or if they're preparing for a revenge scheme-"

Phineas stared at his wife seriously. "It's been fifteen years since we fought them, Isabella. They haven't shown their faces since. They're _gone_."

Isabella looked into Phineas's eyes and nodded reluctantly, just as Marie's voice filled the backyard.

"DADDY, DADDY, IT'S READY!"

"Coming, sweetie!" Phineas kissed Isabella's forehead once before running back out into the backyard, finding Marie, Thomas, and Jazz, the former holding, just as he had guessed, a beacon-like device. "What is that, Marie?"

Marie's smiled widened. "Watch," she said. She then pressed a button on the beacon, and all of a sudden, a hologram filled the backyard.

Phineas's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and happiness. He was surrounded by stars, planets, and flying comets. At the center of the hologram, a bright sun-like star illuminated the otherwise-dark landscape of the projection. The father then looked at Marie, who smiled at him through the stars.

"Do you like it, Daddy?" she asked.

Phineas smiled back at his daughter. "More than anything else in the world, aside from you, sweetie."

Marie giggled, and then, she began walking towards her father, essentially gliding through the stars and the comets and the planets. Phineas couldn't help but shed a tear as he watched his daughter tear through the Universe, just to be with him. Once she had approached him, she held out her hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Phineas's smile widened, and he took Marie's head.

"Of course, Marie."

Isabella, Thomas, and Jazz watched as Phineas and Marie began gliding through the Universe, slowly dancing, off in their own little world.

* * *

While watching the father and daughter dance, Jazz playfully nudged Thomas's shoulder.

"So, Thomas," she said, "did you tell Marie about your feelings towards her?"

Thomas suddenly froze. "I did," he replied.

"So? How'd it go?"

_"Listen, Marie, I wanted to ask you something... I really want us to be _more _than friends... What do you say?"_

_"Oh, Tommy, I'd really love that!"_

_"Y-You _mean_ it?"  
_

_"Of course I do! From now on, we are BEST FRIENDS!"_

...

"Hello? Thomas? I said how'd it go?"

Thomas simply replied, "Let's just say that it's gonna be harder than I thought..."

* * *

The large, muscular man wandered aimlessly through the streets of Danville, not caring where he was going. All it mattered to him now was where he would now take his life, now that the one who had been dictating it for so long was locked away in a heavily-guarded prison cell. That was the mind-boggling part. Not once in his life did he ever think about himself, his future. And now that it all came to this, he was confused.

Shadows suddenly dominated the corners of his eyes. Looking around, the man found that he was in a tight alleyway. He turned around to leave, only to find a lone man standing a few feet away from him. He was wearing a black coat, and hospital bandages were wrapped around his forehead.

"Hello, Thor," he said.

Thor didn't respond, instead blinking twice.

"You must be wondering what I'm doing here," the man continued. "Well, I'm here to offer you a little..._proposition_. Your sister's dead, and your brother's now rotting in a prison cell. That doesn't really bode with you, huh?" When he didn't receive a response, he continued again. "I have certain..._ties_, and I know of your feud with the Flynn-Fletcher family. My colleagues and I happen to hold a similar grudge. If you join us, you can get back at them for all of the pain they inflicted upon you." The man stepped closer towards Thor. "So, what do you say?"

At first, it was silent. Then, after a few minutes...

"You should leave them alone."

The man frowned at the response, but then smirked and turned around, walking away.

"If you insist..." Antonio replied.

* * *

_The stars lean down to kiss you_  
_And I lie awake and miss you_  
_Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere_

_'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly_  
_But I'll miss your arms around me_  
_I'd send a postcard to you, dear_  
_'Cause I wish you were here_

_I'll watch the night turn light-blue_  
_But it's not the same without you_  
_Because it takes two to whisper quietly_

_The silence isn't so bad_  
_'Til I look at my hands and feel sad_  
_'Cause the spaces between my fingers_  
_Are right where yours fit perfectly_

_I'll find repose in new ways_  
_Though I haven't slept in two days_  
_'Cause cold nostalgia_  
_Chills me to the bone_

_But drenched in vanilla twilight_  
_I'll sit on the front porch all night_  
_Waist-deep in thought because_  
_When I think of you I don't feel so alone_

_I don't feel so alone, I don't feel so alone_

_As many times as I blink_  
_I'll think of you tonight_  
_I'll think of you tonight_

_When violet eyes get brighter_  
_And heavy wings grow lighter_  
_I'll taste the sky and feel alive again_

_And I'll forget the world that I knew_  
_But I swear I won't forget you_  
_Oh, if my voice could reach_  
_Back through the past_  
_I'd whisper in your ear_  
_Oh darling, I wish you were here_

Phineas and Marie smiled at each other as they concluded their dance, and the beacon retracted the holographic projection of the Universe.

"I love you, Marie," Phineas said.

The response he received gave him the widest smile he ever had.

"I love you too, Daddy."

* * *

**A/N:** DONE! So, it looks like this story's over, and yet, it isn't. Don't worry, there'll be a sequel to take care of this! It's the high-school fic you saw in Ch. 22.

I'd like to thank those who took the time to review:

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TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. UNTIL NEXT TIME!


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